Hinkley
Boris Johnson MP (Mayor of London): We have just done this absolutely crazy deal with the French, EDF Energy, to produce nuclear energy which shows no sign of working and looks like being unbelievably expensive at approximately £93 a kilowatt hour. It is a huge amount of money we are spending on nuclear energy.
London Assembly 16th Sept 2015 read more »
EDF is hopeful that an impending visit to Britain by the Chinese president will speed negotiations over Britain’s first nuclear power station in 20 years. The French utility has argued that it has done all it can and that it is now up to its two state-owned Chinese partners to act. EDF has indicated that negotiations with the Chinese are continuing. There are hopes that a final decision could be taken before the visit by Xi Jinping to Britain this month. China General Nuclear Corp and China National Nuclear Corp are in talks about the size of an equity stake in the project to build the plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset, which would generate 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity. EDF, which is leading the project and providing the technology, wants Beijing to take 40 per cent, but it is holding out for 30 per cent or less. Sources close to the discussions say that the best that can be hoped for is the signing of a heads of agreement, which could take months.
Times 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
A deal to build the UK’s first nuclear power plant in decades is back on track with France’s EDF urging two state-backed Chinese investors to “seize the day”and finalise an agreement before President Xi Jinping visits Britain this month. Vincent de Rivaz, head of EDF Energy, is confident that his Beijing partners will sign up to a commercial pact, under which they would take a 40 per cent stake in Hinkley Point C, the first of three new plants. “I believe agreement can be reached,” he said. The government, the chancellor and energy secretary have done all they can. So have we. Hinkley Point, Sizewell and Bradwell are of strategic importance for Britain, France and China and companies in all three countries.” A state visit to Britain by Mr Xi in less than three weeks was “a timely opportunity” to seal the deal, he said, adding: “A wise adage says that it is best not to put off to tomorrow what you can do today.”
FT 1st Oct 2015 read more »
LANDLORDS in Burnham and Highbridge could see a surge of property interest thanks to the Hinkley power station development, according to property experts. Last week, the government announced it was to guarantee £2bn of investment for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, giving the project a timely boost and bringing the development a step closer. Now, estate agents and property developers are anticipating a rise in the value and interest of homes in Burnham and Burnham and Highbridge, with Hinkley workers looking for an alternative to living in Bridgwater.
Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News 1st Oct 2015 read more »
This is the West Country 30th Sept 2015 read more »
Molly Scott Cato: Two major infrastructure projects being pushed through by the Tories involve placing a begging bowl in front of the Chinese. On his recent visit to China, George Osborne urged Chinese firms to bid for seven contracts worth nearly £12bn to cover the first phase of HS2 between London and Birmingham. He was also keen to secure Chinese cash for the Hinkley Point project and has said he is happy for the Chinese to build and own nuclear power plants in Britain.The story of Chinese finance at Hinkley is usually told in terms of the nuclear expertise being provided by French companies EDF and Areva and the finance coming from China. But it should be noted that the Chinese companies involved in the deal are both nuclear companies and both wholly or partially state-owned. So the government is allowing our energy security to depend on the commitment of two companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. In the case of the China National Nuclear Corporation, it is a state-owned entity which combines nuclear weapons production with civilian nuclear power. It’s a strange old world where such a company is considered a reliable partner in such a crucial area of our economy. Another indicator of the immaturity of Chinese capitalism is its questionable commitment to safety and environmental standards. Not reassuring for a partner in an industry that is so risky and potentially toxic as nuclear.
Business Green 1st Oct 2015 read more »
EPRs
Available analysis released today by the French nuclear safety authorities 1 confirms the serious and exceptional nature of the defect found on the head and bottom of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) of the EPR reactor at Flamanville, in France, and most probably those of Taishan 1 and 2 in China. All three units are under construction. This defect consists in a “major positive segregation”, which describes an area where the carbon concentration is found to be higher than the limit expected and requested under technical specifications in the steel (16MND5) that was used for fabrication. The excess in carbon reaches up to 50% higher levels than expected in the affected area, which covers more than one meter in diameter and spreads through more than half of the head thickness. This appears to be much higher in scope than any other known segregation on similar components within the French operating nuclear fleet. The mechanical properties will be affected in the segregated area, which could therefore jeopardize the possibility to exclude with certainty the risk of RPV rupture in some operational conditions. This certainty is one of the fundamentals of the reactor’s safety assessment.
Energy Webwatch 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Wylfa
The firm behind an £8bn power station on Anglesey has been given permission to drill boreholes in the seabed as it prepares its building plans. Wylfa Newydd power plant will employ more than 1,000 people once it begins working in the first half of the 2020s. Horizon Nuclear Power will look at the seabed structure at Porth Y Pistyll after getting a marine licence. It will use the information gathered for planning and design aspect of potential marine works at the site.
BBC 30th Sept 2015 read more »
Toshiba
Toshiba Corp may lay off staff in its underperforming home appliances, TV and PC businesses and seek a partner for its nuclear operations to overhaul the company after a $1.3 billion accounting scandal, its chief executive said on Thursday. “The latest accounting problems might have been driven by the fact that some of our businesses have lost earnings power. We must urgently take action in these businesses,” Chief Executive Masashi Muromachi told a roundtable of reporters. As part of its overhaul, Toshiba has launched a new management team, which won approval from shareholders on Wednesday.
Reuters 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Politics
Lisa Nandy, shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, has denounced the Conservative government for their handling of the Hinkley power station project. In her speech at the Labour party conference Nandy said deals with overseas countries, negotiated by the Conservatives, will leave the UK “paying over the odds, for decades, to subsidise Chinese and French companies for a nuclear power station on course to be the most expensive ever built anywhere in the world”.She also accused the Conservative Party of creating an “energy security crisis,” turning their backs on wind and solar and creating “sky-high” energy bills for the British public. A plan was also outlined by Nandy – who said she and Jeremy Corbyn want to “democratise” energy in the UK, not “nationalise” it – for “community-based energy companies and cooperatives” with every community owning its own clean energy power station. Labour local governments in Nottingham, Oldham and Cardiff are, she said, already leading the way and the Labour energy team are determined to work with other towns and cities to follow in their lead and “push for a clean energy boom”.
Building 30th Sept 2015 read more »
Stephen Tindale: I spent 20 years campaigning against nuclear power, including a stint as Executive Director of Greenpeace UK. Then I decided that I had been wrong, and said so. Friends and former colleagues (and some of them former friends…) advised me to keep quiet. But, having been a fairly prominent nuclear opponent, I felt an obligation to speak out. And I’m not a politician, so don’t have to worry about admitting mistakes and performing u-turns. If challenged, I can always quote John Maynard Keynes: “when the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do?” Having been director of an anti-nuclear campaign group, I’m now director of the UK’s first pro-nuclear charity, Weinberg Next Nuclear. At least this means that I’m familiar with both sides of the argument. But the Government should drop the plan to subsidise a European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) at Hinkley. Instead, the British government should support the simpler reactor designs proposed for Wylfa on Anglesey and Moorside in Cumbria. It should also invest around £20 million (small beer in nuclear economics terms) to get prototypes of advanced nuclear reactor designs built in the UK. One of these should be a Molten Salt Reactor (MSR). An MSR was constructed and operated successfully in the US in the 1960s by Dr Alvin Weinberg (after whom my organisation is named), but then closed down by President Nixon because an MSR does not provide plutonium for nuclear weapons. GE Hitachi have submitted a proposal for an IFR, called PRISM, to the nuclear regulator for assessment. Again, if the regulator finds that the design meets regulatory requirement, the Government should support it.
Open Democracy 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Radwaste and Decommissioning
There are two rules about the end costs of nuclear power, writes Ian Fairlie. It’s far more than you ever knew. And whatever sum of money was ever set aside, it’s nowhere near enough. Germany understands this. That’s why it refused to let E.ON spin off its nuclear liabilities into a hands-off company. But the UK, it seems, has lost the ability to learn from its nuclear mistakes.
Ecologist 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Africa
To close the huge power deficit and boost their economies, Africa’s larger economies – South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria -and smaller uranium rich countries – Namibia and Niger – have decided it might be time to go nuclear. Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, and Morocco have also publicly expressed their interest in nuclear power. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has indicated that it will help African countries cooperate in developing nuclear electricity. IAEA will advise on international best practices and standards. National governments will be responsible for regulatory oversight.
Oil Price 1st Oct 2015 read more »
In the light of its ongoing energy crisis, South Africa has embarked on a nuclear expansion journey. Whilst analysts have welcomed these plans they are worried about the levels of secrecy around some of the deals involved, as well as the world-view that is driving the government’s policy.
Public Finance International 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Sweden
Sweden can continue to tax nuclear power production following a ruling in the government’s favour by Europe’s highest court. The European Court of Justice’s seventh chamber decided that the tax does not fall within the scope of two European Council Directives and is therefore a national, rather than European Commission, matter.
World Nuclear News 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Trident
Jeremy Corbyn has said in an interview that, if he were prime minister, he would refuse to use the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system. This has caused much debate and controversy. And rightly so! This naive and blinkered stance clearly doesn’t take into account the many scientifically-proven benefits of widespread global nuclear destruction so would deny people the many advantageous offered by a world scoured of life and civilisation.
Guardian 1st Oct 2015 read more »
This week’s Labour conference sent the party and its new leader, Jeremy Corbyn, soaring in popularity. So better get the knife in quick, writes Oliver Tickell. His refusal to commit mass murder in a nuclear attack gave his enemies just the cue they needed – including those who should be his loyal allies. We must not let them succeed.
Ecologist 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Jeremy Corbyn is effectively ruling out Britain’s last line of defence with his anti-nuclear stance, Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb has said. The Conservative MP told BBC One’s Question Time it was the first duty of any prime minister to protect the public and accused the Labour leader of failing “massively” in that test.
BBC 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Jeremy Corbyn admitted on Thursday Labour may still have no official position on Britain’s nuclear weapons before next May’s Holyrood elections. On his first visit to Scotland since being elected party leader, Mr Corbyn said there were “no guarantees” about when the simmering internal row over Trident will be resolved.
Mirror 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
We knew Jeremy Corbyn was mad, but now we know he’s psychotic. It turns out he won’t press the button to annihilate cities in a nuclear holocaust. How could anyone be that mentally unstable? Corbyn revealed himself as a danger to us all by saying quietly “no”, in response to a calm and measured radio presenter yelling “Would you be prepared to press the button?” at him. This should be a test in institutions for the criminally insane, to check whether an inmate should be released back into the community. If they suggest that, on balance, they wouldn’t obliterate a geopolitical region in radioactive firestorms slaughtering millions of civilians and rendering a continent uninhabitable for 50 billion years, they should go back in a straitjacket like Hannibal Lecter. Only when they’ve learned to shout “I WANT TO PRESS THE BUTTON AND MAKE EVERYONE’S SKIN DISSOLVE” should they be let free to mix safely with their fellow citizens.
Independent 1st Oct 2015 read more »
With a strap line of “straight talking, honest politics” this year’s Labour party conference promised to be a potentially lethal confrontation between the old guard and the new leadership. But after a relatively calm week in Brighton, Jeremy Corbyn sent delegates away with a promise to promote a kinder, gentler politics. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing. After a decision not to debate the party’s stance on nuclear weapons, Corbyn told delegates that he personally would continue to oppose Trident renewal whatever the party’s official policy was. He went on to tell interviewers that he would never authorise use of nuclear weapons if he becomes prime minister – a stance equivalent to the unilateral disarmament he has always supported.
Guardian 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Telling someone that they can smack you about and you’ll never hit back is not an invitation to a nicer, happier world. It’s an invitation to a smackdown, and we all know it. Where Corbyn might have won votes for quite PLAINLY being a world leader we could all trust with the nuclear button – as compared to, say, Donald Trump – he’s just gone and lost them all again by doing the political equivalent of putting a KICK ME note on his own backside in the playground.
Mirror 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables
The future for UK renewables is less optimistic than it looked a year ago, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The amount of renewable capacity added in the UK will fall by half between 2015 and 2016, says the IEA’s Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report 2015, in part because of uncertainty over government policy following the election in May. Globally, the IEA expects renewables to be the single largest source of new electricity generating capacity, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all additions to 2020. However, the UK policy environment is not alone in leaving question marks over support for renewables, the IEA warns. Carbon Brief has a short summary of the report.
Carbon Brief 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – Scotland
Scotland’s renewable energy sector is displacing more carbon emissions than ever – around 120% increase on only five years ago, new figures show. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, renewable energy projects including wind farms, hydro power and solar saved more than one million tonnes of CO2 per month from entering the atmosphere. The reduction – 12.3 million tonnes in total – is the highest ever recorded in Scotland, and up 119% on 2010, when 5,611 million tonnes were displaced. The figure is equivalent to more CO2 than is emitted from every single car, bus and train journey taken over the course of a year in Scotland. The statistics were published in response to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Callum McCaig MP and answered by UK Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom MP. Joss Blamire, Senior Policy Manager for Scottish Renewables, said: “For the fourth year in a row these figures show an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide which has been displaced by Scotland’s renewable energy industry.
Scottish Renewables 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Scotsman 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – opinion
Public opinion is a fickle thing. Most of the time even the public has no idea what the public is thinking. A new survey shows that even though more than three quarters of the British public supports renewable energy according to the government, less than 10% think that more than three quarters of the British public supports renewables. Confused? So is everyone, apparently. Essentially the survey reveals that even if an individual supports renewable energy themselves, they generally believe that renewables are unpopular with everyone else.
Energy Desk 30th Sept 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
Planning applications for solar farms almost doubled month-on-month in July, as developers scrambled to get their projects approved before subsidy cuts come into force. On 22 July, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to end support for solar PV projects of 5MW and below under the Renewables Obligation (RO) subsidy scheme from April 2016. More than 50 planning applications for solar farms were submitted between that announcement and the end of July, compared to 45 for the entire month of June.
Edie 1st Oct 2015 read more »
The Government’s proposed cuts to the Feed-in Tariff subsidy scheme could leave the solar industry with just £7m of funding over the next three years – a 98% cut, according to new analysis. At the end of August, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched a consultation on a set of measures to control the costs of the FIT subsidy. The proposals included strict deployment caps, early closure for new entrants and tariff cuts up to 87%. The Solar Trade Association (STA) has since conducted a detailed analysis of the Government proposals and claims they will cut subsidy support from £70m a year currently to little more than £2m a year over the next three years.
Edie 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Business Green 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Guardian 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Scottish Energy News 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Up to 27,000 solar energy jobs could be at risk across the UK as a result of the government cut to feed-in tariff rates. New analysis by the Solar Trade Association which was commissioned from the Government’s research partner on low-carbon jobs data, TBR Economic Research has shown for the first time how the 35,000 jobs in the solar industry and its supply chain are distributed across the regions of the UK. The Solar Trade Association has estimated that the jobs of up to 27,000 people in the solar energy sector (out of a total of 35,000) could be at risk due to the proposed 87% cut to the domestic feed-in tariff for solar energy.
Scottish Energy News 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Residents of Balcombe, the Sussex village which previously found itself at the centre of anti-fracking protests, is set to meet its goal of becoming 100 per cent powered by renewable energy after today securing approval to install a 5MW solar farm. RePower Balcombe, a co-operative which was set up last year in the wake of the fracking protests, has already installed solar panels at the local primary schools and on a cowshed at the nearby Grange Farm. It has now secured approval to install more than 18,500 panels as part of a new solar farm, which is expected to provide enough power to meet demand from the village of Balcombe and neighbouring West Hoathly.
Business Green 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Community Energy
On paper, the Sretton Sugwas solar project just outside Hereford looks a dead cert. Pitched as the UK’s first community-owned photovoltaic installation on a former landfill site, the project promises to provide clean electricity for 250 homes as well as local jobs and financial returns for residents. But getting small-scale community energy projects off the ground has never been easy. Following a raft of policy revisions over recent months, it just got a lot harder. The community energy sector insists that the government’s removal of policy support is short-termist and potentially counterproductive. Local electricity generation not only contributes to the transition to cleaner energy, industry experts argue, but acts as a spur for social development as well. By selling direct, small electricity producers would be able to charge more per unit and buyers could pay less than current market rates. In short, a win for both parties. While current legislation doesn’t explicitly prohibit such an approach, the cost, effort and technical complexity of doing so “just doesn’t justify the payback”, according to New Leaf Solar’s Prescott. “The system needs to be much more effectively streamlined so a community group can feasibly and realistically sell to a third party user. If that happened, we wouldn’t need subsidies because we could sell our electricity at a decent rate,” he argues.
Guardian 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Renewables – Marine Energy
Getting the support framework right over the next decade, could see ocean energy covering 10% of EU electricity demand by 2050, a highly attractive prospect for the EU. Over the next few years, the ocean renewable energy industry will deploy pilot farms, with Scotland leading the way. These early projects will set a path for the industrial roll-out of up to 100GW of deployed capacity around Europe by 2050. The EU is now moving to support ocean energy in a meaningful way, adding further momentum to sector’s steady march towards commercialisation. The European industry will converge on Dublin on 20-21 October to hammer out a development strategy and forge partnerships that will take progress to next level.
Scottish Energy News 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Micro-CHP
New technologies are heating up competition in Europe’s boiler market with micro-Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems, which produce electricity as well as heat and hot water, emerging as one of the most promising. Currently a minor player as prices remain high, one EU-funded study predicts a surge in demand for CHP systems by 2030.
Reuters 1st Oct 2015 read more »
Freevolt
A new method of harvesting electricity from unused radio frequency waves has been unveiled today by Lord Paul Drayson, the former minister for science and chief executive of Drayson Technologies, at The Royal Institution in London.
Telegraph 30th Sept 2015 read more »
Biomass
Talks are under way to rescue one of Britain’s biggest power stations by converting it from a coal-fired to a biomass station using new, cheap technology. Hundreds of jobs would be saved at the plant at Eggborough in North Yorkshire, which generates 4 per cent of Britain’s electricity.
Times 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Energy Storage
Robo said that he and his team expect energy storage prices to experience a similar cost plunge to that of solar costs over the last seven years. If that happens, energy storage will be competitive with gas peaker plants. Robo said, “Post-2020, there may never be another peaker built in the United States — very likely you’ll be just building energy storage instead.”
Renew Economy 2nd Oct 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Jeremy Leggett writes: A momentous announcement yesterday. The Bank of England Governor, and chair of the Financial Stability Board, tells the world that climate change is the biggest issue of the future, that fossil-fuel stranded assets are substantial, and that investors must be given the data they need to “invest accordingly”. A one minute BBC video of his comments is here. Also yesterday, less than a week after Goldman Sachs concludes that “coal is in terminal decline”, the biggest retreat yet from investment on the oil frontiers: a $7bn waste of capital as Shell retreats from Arctic drilling. The BBC Today Programme explores this this with me here, 50 minutes in.
Blue Green Tomorrow 30th Sept 2015 read more »
The leader of Canada’s biggest oil-producing province has declared she sees no long-term future in fossil fuels, predicting Alberta would wean itself off dirty energy within a century. In an early reveal of her forthcoming new energy policy, Alberta’s Rachel Notley said she would fight climate change by cleaning up the tar sands, shutting down coal-fired power plants, and converting to wind and solar power. Notley also forecast an eventual future beyond fossil fuels – a dramatic change for Alberta – and a track that has put her on a collision course with Canada’s conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper.
Guardian 30th Sept 2015 read more »
