Wind Farm Cuts
There was growing speculation last night that the Government is on the verge of cutting financial incentives to build wind farms. Such a move, which could come as early as tomorrow, would have a profound effect on the British wind industry. It is believed that the Government could cut so-called ROC incentives as a means of keeping a lid on rising power prices. Renewable energy leaders say that any cut in the incentive regime would be a disaster for the wind industry. If confidence in building wind turbines in the North Sea and off the shores of Britain is damaged, billions of pounds of investment from international companies could dry up and tens of thousands of new jobs would not be created, they argue. In addition, Britains target of producing 30 per cent of its electricity from renewable means by 2030 could be in jeopardy. DECC is set to publish the result of its review into the renewables obligations certificates ROCs. In the case of onshore wind, developers receive one certificate for every megawatt hour (mwh) of electricity they produce. In the case of more expensive offshore wind farms, the incentive is two ROCs. One ROC is about the same value £50 as the price of 1 mwh of power; so, for every megawatt hour of electricity produced by an offshore wind turbine, the developer is paid £150.
Times 19th Oct 2011 more >>
Sellafield Waste Scandal
Sellafield has launched an investigation into how the surface of three nuclear waste containers shipped to Japan became contaminated with radioactive material. The containers were part of a cargo of 76 canisters of vitrified high-level waste. They were found to be contaminated when they were unloaded at the Rokkasho storage facility in northern Japan. Sellafield says that, following subsequent checks, two containers turned out to be within Japanese radiation limits but one was above the threshold. There was no sign of contamination when the canisters left Sellafield inside three sealed flasks. Martin Forwood, campaign co-ordinator for Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment, said: This will be of significant concern to Japanese workers who have to handle this highly-toxic and dangerous material. The unknown source of this surface contamination makes a mockery of the industrys claims that high-level waste shipments pose no risk.
Cumberland News 18th Nov 2011 more >>
NW Evening Mail 18th Nov 2011 more >>
Nuclear Economics
The economics of nuclear power are thorny. Though the fuel is inexpensive, building facilities is pricey. Their cost has risen more than that of other power plants; their scale, complexity and scarcity make it hard to economise. Before Fukushima, EDF, a French state utility that runs most of Britains nuclear outfits and hopes to build more with a British firm, Centrica, put the cost of constructing a new facility at £5 billion ($7.9 billion). The pay-off is slow; decommissioning costs are unknown. Other countries offer little guidance. There are no completed reactors of the models Britain is consideringAREVAs European Pressurised Reactor and a design by Westinghouse, the AP1000. The record for building plants on time and within budget is between horrendous and terrible, says Pierre Noël of Cambridge University. Projects have doubled in length at EDFs Flamanville site in France and at Olkiluoto in Finland; costs have surged.
Economist 15th Oct 2011 more >>
Energy Prices
THE EUs green energy campaign could double household electricity bills by 2050, a report warned yesterday. It predicted 20 years of rising electricity prices as Europe comes to rely on wind farms for up to half its electricity, compared to 5 per cent today.
Express 18th Oct 2011 more >>
The Big Six energy companies have got us hooked on dirty fossil fuels and make huge profits from a stitched-up system. Join our new campaign to force the Government to launch a public inquiry into their power. Please sign our petition to stop the energy company rip-off.
FoE 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Dieter Helm: Chris Huhne is pretty sure that oil and gas prices are going ever upwards, that they will be volatile and that a core function of energy policy is to protect British industry and consumers from the consequences. It is a convenient assumption for renewables and nuclear: if the price of fossil fuel is going to get more expensive, then renewables and nuclear will be relatively cheap. Add in energy efficiency, and then it can be predicted that energy bills will fall if these technologies are supported. And then, we are led to believe that the world’s fossil fuel resources are finite and known, and that the peak of production has either been already met or will come soon. Gas, it is assumed, will follow oil. Put simply, we are going to run out of fossil fuels, and they will therefore get (much) more expensive. For the peak oil advocates, the convenient truth is that de-carbonisation via renewables and nuclear is not only good for the climate, but sound economics too. Almost all of this is nonsense and some of it is dangerous nonsense. There is enough oil and gas (and coal too) to fry the planet several times over. The problem is there may be too much fossil fuel, not too little, and that fossil fuel prices might be too low, not too high. It is also wrong to assume the renewables and nuclear will pay for themselves and that therefore they are going to be cheap alternatives. Is there another way forward, which enables possibly cheaper gas to feed through to customers without undermining attempts to reduce emissions? The answer is at least for the next couple of decades yes. At the global level, the reason emissions keep going up and why Kyoto has made so little difference is that coal is the rising fuel; its share has risen from around 25% to nearly 30% during the Kyoto period, and it is a percentage of a growing total. Switching from coal to gas is cheap and it cuts emissions by roughly half. It doesn’t solve the climate change problem in the long run, but it gets emissions down much faster and much cheaper than all those offshore windfarms in the short to medium term.
Guardian 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Andy Atkins: A government drive to encourage people to switch tariffs is a laughable response to our broken energy system. The big six energy companies supply 99% of British households and make massive profits from a stitched-up market. They stand to make many billions by keeping us hooked on increasingly expensive fossil fuels. Consumers are already being hit hard by the energy companies’ stranglehold they alone do not have the power to break it. Instead of cosying up to the big six and cutting funding for energy efficiency, the government should be creating a fair system that provides energy we can all afford that’s why our Final Demand campaign is calling for an urgent public inquiry into the behaviour and influence of the big six.
Guardian 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Ofgem should use its powers to fine electricity and gas suppliers billions of pounds for uncompetitive behaviour, an MP on the energy select committee has urged. John Robertson, a Glasgow MP and member of the committee, called on the regulator to use its toughest penalty – fining suppliers up to 10pc of their turnover – as dual-fuel bills have risen to a record £1,300 per year. In a Commons motion, he claims that recent energy price rises by the “Big Six” are “clear acts of anti-competitive behaviour” . Across these companies – British Gas, npower, E.ON, EDF, SSE and Scottish Power, the maximum fine for their supply businesses could be around £4bn in total, based on last year’s revenues. Mr Robertson wants to see any penalties imposed on the companies put in a “consolidated fund via the Treasury” and dispersed to consumers.
Telegraph 19th Oct 2011 more >>
George Osborne, the Chancellor, is reported to be preparing the breaks amid growing concern that firms are unhappy with the Governments drive to cut emissions. Britain is pushing cuts in emissions faster than almost every other European country. Mr Osborne caused ripples in industry last March when he announced in the Budget that there would be a tax on emissions worth 3.2 billion by 2016. However, as the economic downturn places a premium on healthy economic activity, he has taken steps to assuage the fears of the biggest energy users, such as the steel, cement and aluminium manufacturers. David Davis, the Tory MP, said: There is absolutely no point in having such draconian environmental policies that heavy energy using industries like steel and chemicals up sticks and go and create just as much pollution in India and China, but to our economic disadvantage. A source close to Mr Osborne was quoted saying: We recognise that a decade of environmental laws and regulations has piled costs on the energy bills of energy intensive business.
Telegraph 19th Oct 2011 more >>
ONR
The governments nuclear safety watchdog assured ministers on the day of the Fukushima nuclear accident that Britains nuclear plants would resist earthquakes and floods, according to a leaked Whitehall briefing. In a memo to the employment minister, Chris Grayling, on 11 March 2011, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it was confident that British reactors and the companies that operate them had appropriate levels of protection for seismic events. It recommended a series of reassuring lines to take with the media about the robust safety systems that were in place to prevent nuclear disasters. In a covering note, an HSE official said it looked as if the accident in Japan was now under control.
Rob Edwards 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Kingscliffe
It was a decision that left a village fuming – the go-ahead for a low-level nuclear waste dump on their doorstep. But people at Kingscliffe in Northamptonshire were determined not to take it lying down, so they’ve launched a campaign to fund a legal challenge to the dump.
Anglia Tonight 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Hinkley
EDF Energy has shut one of two reactors at its Hinkley Point B nuclear power station in Somerset as part of planned maintenance. The company said reactor 4 was shut down last Friday but the second reactor will remain online supplying electricity to over 500,000 homes. The reactor outage, which occurs every three years, began on 14 October.
BBC 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Burnham-on-sea 18th Oct 2011 more >>
COUNCILLORS have unanimously agreed to adopt a document offering guidelines to future planning proposals related to the Hinkley Point C project. Sedgemoor District Council’s Hinkley Point C supplementary planning document provides direction and guidance for potential developments, and seeks to ensure benefits, such as training and employment, for local people are secured.
Bridgwater Mercury 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Oldbury
FLOODING risks are being assessed by the company that wants to build a new nuclear power station next to the River Severn. Horizon Nuclear Power said it was using sophisticated software in its studies of the land at Shepperdine, near Thornbury, which forms part of the flood plain. It said it was examining an extensive range of “what if” scenarios, including the possible consequences of climate change, such as a rise in sea level and an increase in wave height, which could lead to flood defences being at greater threat. Flooding is one of the areas highlighted by opponents of the massive Oldbury B project. They said it would be wrong to build a new power station that would be much bigger than the existing Oldbury plant, pictured, on the flood plain. They have pointed to reports of an early 17th century tsunami or storm surge in the Severn, as well as the recent devastating tsunami that struck Japan’s coast and led to the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Horizon said it was aware of local flooding problems in and around the Oldbury area but they were more to do with surface water drainage and its ability to be released into the estuary, especially at high tide.
Bristol Evening Post 19th Oct 2011 more >>
Companies
Denmarks Dong Energy is stepping into the mainstream British gas and electricity supply market and taking on the likes of British Gas. Yesterday, Dong bought Shell Gas Direct, the supplier of natural gas to the industrial and commercial market, for £30 million. The deal makes the little-known entity the third-largest gas supplier in Britain, behind Total and British Gas, serving businesses ranging from energy-intensive industrial users to small shops and pubs.
Times 19th Oct 2011 more >>
Japan
Japan has not ruled out the possibility of complete closure of its nuclear power stations as one option for the country’s future energy policy after the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years, economy minister Yukio Edano said.
Reuters 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Enginering & Technology 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Fukushima Update 14th to 16th October.
Greenpeace International 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Iran
Tackling Iran’s nuclear program will become more urgent over the next year and the world must not be distracted from it by the focus on the Arab Spring popular uprisings, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday.
Reuters 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Iran’s nuclear program has been hampered by machine design flaws, equipment breakdowns and problems getting parts because of international sanctions, a US think-tank report said.
AFP 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Two new reports suggest that Iranian scientists are having chronic difficulties obtaining materials for uranium-enriching centrifuges.
Guardian 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Concerns over Irans nuclear capabilities are inextricably linked to the countrys ambiguous energy intentions. But experts say it would take Iran at least two years to produce a single nuclear weapon, and that a comprehensive diplomatic strategy is key to limiting the nuclear programs reach. Iran has created policy rooted in religion, law, and the still-fresh memory of a gruesome war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq – against nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and cites peaceful reasons for harvesting questionable quantities of highly enriched uranium (HEU), a key component needed to produce a nuclear weapon. Iranian leaders, however, have tried to keep harvesting efforts under wraps, which raises questions about the credibility of the strictly peaceful rationale. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted multiple times during his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly that the enrichment level remains below the 20 percent needed for a nuclear weapons.
Oil Price 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Solar
Two young entrepreneurs who are expecting to achieve sales of 15m in their first full year of trading would normally expect plaudits rather than brickbats. However, university fr iends Toby Ferenczi, 28, and Toby Darbyshire, 30, accept that their start-up, Engensa, is the subject of suspicion in some quarters. The company installs solar panels on consumers roofs which would normally cost between 10,000 and 15,000 for free and then claims back the subsidy, or feed-in tariff, that was implemented in April last year to encourage renewable energy production. The popularity of the scheme is helping Engensa achi eve monthly revenues of around 1m, and it is adding 10 employees every four weeks to cope with demand. It expects a pre-tax profit of as much as 2m this year while its revenue target for next year is 35m but only in the increasingly unlikely event that the subsidies continue at their current level.
Daily Telegraph 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Renewables
Last year was a turning point in the global race to develop clean technology. It marked the first time that more new wind power generating capacity was installed in developing countries than in the rich world. China led the way, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), and now has the most wind generating capacity in the world, thanks to favourable government policies. A record capacity of 19 gigawatts was added in China last year, taking the total to more than 42GW. India also showed strong growth, in line with the government target of adding more than 10GW of new capacity by 2012, and there are industry estimates that 100GW is possible.
Guardian 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Green Buildings
San Francisco-based builder and designer Project Frog has recently completed a school in Connecticut whose energy requirements will be 75 per cent lower than a traditional building. The five-year old Project Frog business usually manages to cut running energy costs by 25 per cent at least, in the health care, retail and education sectors in which it specialises. The main secrets of success are the use of top quality windows and materials that provide high levels of insulation alongside a design approach that ensures that 95 per cent of light used during daylight hours comes from the sun, rather than from artificial sources. The other main ingredient in the formula is a modular design. This enables the construction to be put together off site and assembled quickly in location – very often in just a month.
Guardian 18th Oct 2011 more >>
Coal
A PROPOSAL for a coal-fired power station has received more objections than any other development in Scottish planning history, according to an environmental charity. More than 20,000 people have signed a petition to stop the plant at Hunterston in North Ayrshire, with a large proportion of the signatories living in the local area. Ayrshire Power wants to build the station at the site and, if approved, it would be the first new coal-fired power station to be built since the 1970s. The proposed plant would use carbon capture and storage technology which removes CO2 emissions and pipes the gas underground.
Daily Record 19th Oct 2011 more >>
Scotsman 18th Oct 2011 more >>
