Energy Bill
At least one thing about the Energy Bill now appears certain. It will be published “within a few days”, according to Vince Cable, meaning the government will presumably be able to make good on its pledge to pass the bill before the end of the year. However, the precise details of this crucial piece of legislation remain as opaque as ever, with reports over the weekend suggesting the critical issue of whether or not the bill contains a decarbonisation target for the electricity sector could be postponed until after the next election. Without a decarbonisation target new gas plants would quickly establish themselves as the default new build option for the UK. This may be staggeringly short-sighted and irresponsible, given the likelihood of rising carbon prices and the ever-mounting climatic warnings about the urgent need to build a low carbon economy. It may also change over time as the cost of renewables continues to fall, the cost of gas (probably) continues to climb, and the level of returns available to low carbon energy projects through the CfDs prove to be attractive and stable. But, in the short term, we would inevitably see a fast and significant “dash for gas”, just as the chancellor said he wanted to deliver in his controversial leaked letter to energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey this summer. The scale of this “dash for gas” would almost certainly exceed the necessary and welcome gas investment required to provide long-term back-up for renewables and nuclear, and while it would deliver emission reductions when replacing coal-fired power plants, it would not deliver the scale of long-term emission cuts required for the UK to stay within its carbon budgets.
Business Green 19th Nov 2012 more »
All is well with state aid and the Energy Bill, we are assured. New DECC minister John Hayes declared that: ‘We do not anticipate there being any impact on the timetable for the passage of the Energy Bill or secondary legislation’. But that, as a friend of a friend tells me, is not quite how matters are being viewed from Brussels. They are worrying about three specific elements of the Bill as far as State Aid is concerned. Firstly, the obvious one. If the ‘strike price’ payment for generation per megawatt hour for new nuclear comes in substantially above that offered to other low carbon electricity generators, then the ‘protection’ that it is considered is provided by the conjoining of nuclear and renewables in the ‘contract for difference’ system could be regarded as being removed, and the UK Government could therefore be liable for state aid approval. But then, the friend of a friend suggests, there are two other worries yet to surface publicly. These are: New nuclear CfDs are not now, and will not for a long time hence, be auctioned. And if as a result of the elision of nuclear and renewables into one big cfd ‘pot’, the total proportion of electricity generation supplied through the CfD process exceeds – say – 40%, then that itself may be viewed as an outcome potentially liable for state aid permission.
Alan Whitehead 19th Nov 2012 more »
Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association, said the government needed “to clearly commit to projects” stating what it will provide in capital investment and guarantees for projects within the national infrastructure plan. It should detail how far it was willing to use road tolling, Mr Francis said, as well as getting the energy bill through parliament and confirming its commitment to offshore wind farms and nuclear power.
FT 19th Nov 2012 more »
Energy Costs
Media reports about price opacity in gas trading markets sets a context in which price manipulation can occur. The Government is about to introduce an Energy Bill implementing Electricity Market Reform which will make the precise amount of subsidies paid to nuclear and renewable energy sources very difficult to calculate and handover more control of the the renewables market to the major electricity players. In the process this reform will effectively prevent independent developers from setting up renewable energy projects.
David Toke’s Green Energy Blog 14th Nov 2012 more »
The energy secretary, Ed Davey, will attempt on Tuesday to fulfil David Cameron’s surprise promise to ensure all energy consumers are automatically put on the lowest energy tariff suitable for them. He is expected to announce that all energy companies must slash the confusing thicket of competing tariffs and reduce them to four. He will also require that the companies put consumers on the lowest tariff available to them.
Guardian 19th Nov 2012 more »
Independent 20th Nov 2012 more »
Telegraph 20th Nov 2012 more »
Times 20th Nov 2012 more »
Sizewell
ELECTRICITY bosses will tomorrow release the first details of their plans to build a new nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast. EDF Energy will make public its initial proposals and options for Sizewell C – which will then be subject to a lengthy consultation period. The documents will outline the impact the development could have on the nearby town of Leiston and surrounding communities.
East Anglian Daily Times 20th Nov 2012 more »
Moorside
NuGen has reassured west Cumbria of its commitment to a new nuclear build near Sellafield and says it is confident of building a robust commercial case for the massive investment. The Sunday Times reported last month that one half of the NuGen consortium was pulling out. It was said that Spanish company Iberdrola had told its partner GDF Suez it was withdrawing, leaving the £5 billion Moorside project in serious doubt. But now John McNamara, head of communications at NuGen, has met Cumbrian businesses at the British Energy Coast Business Cluster to brief them on the company’s progress. He told them NuGen had started work on the Moorside site three weeks ago to begin assessing its suitability and will be much more high profile in 2013 with a website portal for the project and a schedule of regional and local events.
Cumberland News 19th Nov 2012 more »
Radhealth
A pooled meta-analysis of studies of high-background radiation areas finds biological harm at the lowest levels, consistent with the no-threshold risk model. Even the very lowest levels of radiation are harmful to life, scientists have concluded in the Cambridge Philosophical Society’s journal Biological Reviews.
Science Daily 13th Nov 2012 more »
Even the very lowest levels of radiation are harmful to life, scientists have concluded in the Cambridge Philosophical Society’s journal Biological Reviews. Reporting the results of a wide-ranging analysis of 46 peer-reviewed studies published over the past 40 years, researchers from the University of South Carolina and the University of Paris-Sud found that variation in low-level, natural background radiation had small, but highly statistically significant, negative effects on DNA as well as several measures of health.
Newswise 13th Nov 2012 more »
Radwaste
On Thursday 29th November as part of National Tree Week, Radiation Free Lakeland will be lighting a candle for the Brockhole Monkey Puzzle to apologise for being unable to stop the felling by a ruthless and ultimately unaccountable National Park Authority. Following the vigil for the Monkey Puzzle the group will don mock biohazard suits and unfurl banners opposing the geological dumping of high level nuclear wastes under Lakeland Forests. Wild Ennerdale along with the Solway is one of the areas being eyed up as the nuclear dumping ground, much of Ennerdale is in public ownership. The experience at Brockhole with the much loved Monkey Puzzle shows that public ownership counts for little.
Radiation Free Lakeland 19th Nov 2012 more »
THE only way Copeland can survive brutal budget cuts is by hosting an underground nuclear waste repository, says the borough’s MP, Jamie Reed. At a public meeting on Friday, Mr Reed said failing to back a nuclear new-build, including the potential major waste disposal facility, would “seal the area’s fate”.
NW Evening Mail 19th Nov 2012 more »
Politics
Chief executive of WWF-UK says prime minister must take control of ministers who are playing politics with climate change. A “rogue pack” of senior Conservatives is undermining promises made by David Cameron to tackle climate change, the leader of one of Britain’s largest green groups said on Tuesday. Calling on the prime minister to “take control” of the chancellor, George Osborne; energy minister, John Hayes, and other Conservatives known to be sceptical of renewable energy and climate change targets. Cameron’s continued silence would be a betrayal not just of election promises, but of the UK national interest.”
Guardian 20th Nov 2012 more »
Japan
Fukushima Crisis update 13th to 15th Nov.
Greenpeace 19th Nov 2012 more »
US marine scientist says he fears high radiation levels found in fish near Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture could mean a continued radiation leak from the Daiichi Nuclear Plant.
Reuters 19th Nov 2012 more »
UAE
Emirates Nuclear Energy, an organization appointed with implementing the UAE nuclear energy program, is raising $2bn from bank loans to finance construction of a nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi. Switzerland-based financial services firm Credit Suisse Group and Britain’s HSBC Holdings are advising Emirates Nuclear Energy on the fundraising.
Energy Business Review 20th Nov 2012 more »
Iran
Iran unloaded nuclear fuel from its first atomic power plant last month, a United Nations report said on Friday. A few months after the Russian builder said the long-postponed reactor was operating at full capacity. The nuclear fuel unloaded by the Bushehr plant stands as a symbol of what the Islamic Republic see as its “peaceful” nuclear ambitions, despite disputes from Western nations. Any new hitch is possible to be seen as an embarrassment for both Tehran and Moscow – whose experts help run it. Moving fuel assemblies from the reactor core to a spent fuel pond mean that the plant was shut down. “It was certainly not foreseen, that’s for sure”, reported a diplomat familiar with the issue. The unexpected move’s motives are not clear but speculation points to a problem in running the Russian-built, 1,000-megawatt reactor near the Gulf city of Bushehr.
Engineering & Technology 19th Nov 2012 more »
France
Pierre-Franck Chevet has been appointed Chairman of French nuclear regulator ASN for a period of six years. He succeeds André-Claude Lacoste who was appointed Chairman of ASN in 2006 and whose mandate expired on 12 November 2012.
Nuclear Engineering International 19th Nov 2012 more »
Fossil Fuels
More than 1,000 coal-fired power plants are being planned worldwide, new research has revealed. The huge planned expansion comes despite warnings from politicians, scientists and campaigners that the planet’s fast-rising carbon emissions must peak within a few years if runaway climate change is to be avoided and that fossil fuel assets risk becoming worthless if international action on global warming moves forward. Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 coal plants in planning across 59 countries, with about three-quarters in China and India.
Guardian 20th Nov 2012 more »
George Osborne is under mounting pressure to dramatically cut Britain’s reliance on gas after a coalition of the world’s biggest investment fund managers made an unprecedented call on the UK government to step up its commitment to low carbon energy. The alliance of 200 investment institutions includes Scottish Widows, Aviva and HSBC and controls $21 trillion (£13trn) of assets worldwide and its lobbying of the UK government is part of a broader campaign to persuade the world’s biggest economies to escalate their actions against climate change.
Independent 20th Nov 2012 more »
Telegraph 20th Nov 2012 more »
Climate
All nations will suffer the effects of a world 4C hotter, but it is the world’s poorest countries that will be hit hardest by food shortages, rising sea levels, cyclones and drought, the World Bank said in a report published on Monday on climate change. Under the new World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, the global development lender has launched a more aggressive stance to integrate climate change into development. “We will never end poverty if we don’t tackle climate change. It is one of the single biggest challenges to social justice today,” Kim told reporters on a conference call on Friday. The report, called Turn Down the Heat, highlights the devastating impact of a world hotter by 4C by the end of the century, a likely scenario under current policies, it said.
Guardian 19th Nov 2012 more »
Renewables
French nuclear power engineering giant Areva is planning to set up an offshore wind turbine factory in the east of Scotland, which could create 750 jobs, the group said on Monday.
Reuters 19th Nov 2012 more »
Guardian 19th Nov 2012 more »
Times 20th Nov 2012 more »
Herald 20th Nov 2012 more »
Scotsman 20th Nov 2012 more »
Korea’s Samsung plans a wind project in Fife, while Spain’s Gamesa chose the Leith for a blades and generators plant, and Japan’s Mitsubishi plans to develop generators in Edinburgh. None of the projects are yet finalised and industry figures say the UK will miss out on its chance to develop the supply chain unless it finalises policies quickly.
Telegraph 19th Nov 2012 more »
After a year of evaluation of sites along the North Sea coast, Areva has chosen Firth of Forth as the preferred location. The Firth promises to become a major offshore wind industrial cluster with turbine manufacturers, tower manufacturers, supply chain businesses and installation contractors.
Telegraph 19th Nov 2012 more »
Energy Efficiency
One in 10 households could be getting financial help with the cost of their fuel bills, insulation and new boilers, according to the Home Heat Helpline. Research for the helpline indicates an estimated 3.4 million households are eligible for help through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target scheme. This entitles those who are eligible – because they receive an out-of-work benefit, tax credits, pension credit or a disability benefit, or live in private rented or owner-occupied housing and lack sufficient loft or wall cavity insulation – to help which is designed to reduce the size of their energy bills, including discounts and rebates on bills and action to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Guardian 20th Nov 2012 more »
