New Nukes
Labour has drawn a red line over new nuclear power, saying it would not accept the Scottish National Party (SNP) view that there should be no new nuclear power plants developed in the UK. Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint, speaking in a Daily Politics debate on energy and climate change on Monday afternoon, said the party has made it clear that “nuclear is an important part of the energy mix going forward”. She said her party rules out conceding this issue to the SNP, in the event of any coalition or policy negotiations, and that Labour stands by its pledge made in the last government that new nuclear is needed to help the UK to reduce its carbon emissions and meet future electricity demand.
Utility Week 20th April 2015 read more »
Hinkley
Despite frequent headlines suggesting otherwise, EDF has not yet agreed to buy two nuclear reactors from its sister French state-owned company Areva. The British Government has yet to sign a contract to purchase the electricity the reactors will produce. Without that contract EDF will not make the final investment decision to purchase the reactors. This is a lucky escape for Britain’s electricity consumers. On April 18th it became public that the French nuclear inspectorate had discovered a ‘very serious’ fault in the pressure vessel of the nuclear reactor currently under construction at Flamanville in Normandy. The reactor is already five years late and costing three times as much as forecast. It is the same type of reactor as EDF want to build at Hinkley Point in Somerset. As we know from our experience with the banks, changing a management culture as hubristic as that on display from Areva is no quick task. We have no reason to believe that they will perform as promised. We have much better things to do to secure affordable, secure, low carbon electricity for the British people. We should get on with them.
Tom Burke 20th April 2015 read more »
Fresh safety concerns over EDF’s Flamanville new nuclear reactor could spell delays for the company’s planned Hinkley Point C project, investors have warned . UK investors noted on Monday morning that the impact on EDF’s earnings and the cost of the Hinkley project are likely to be negligible. But analysts at RBC Capital added that it could result in further delays to the Hinkley Point final investment decision (FiD). “[T]here is a likely impact to the timing of the FiD…. In summary, this is very worrying, and the fact that EDF has not elaborated on the possible impact does not help,” said analysts at RBC Capital.
Utility Week 20th April 2015 read more »
Tests are underway this month on a model of a reactor used at the Flamanville nuclear plant in northern France. Areva and EDF told French nuclear safety authority ASN that work was underway to ensure the reactor was compliant with requirements. It follows initial tests that showed carbon content in the reactor was greater than recommended. The UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation said it expected any lessons from Flamanville to be useful at the proposed new nuclear plant in Somerset. “ONR is aware of ASN’s concerns with the reactor pressure vessel at Flamanville 3,” it said in a statement. “The UK currently has no EPR reactors but expects that learning from Flamanville 3 will be taken into account in the manufacture of components intended for the planned new reactor at Hinkley Point C. “ONR has been liaising with ASN and the Hinkley Point C licensee, NNB GenCo, and will continue to do so.”
New Civil Engineer 20th April 2015 read more »
These safety issues in France could lead to even further delays in the construction and completion of the proposed £24.5bn Hinkley Point nuclear power plant. A final decision on Hinkley point is expected in June, but the British government and EDF will be hopeful the latest setback won’t deter vital Chinese investment. The EPR is meant to be one of the safest reactors in the world, and the most energy efficient, but has suffered a number of delays and cost overruns.
Power Engineering 20th April 2015 read more »
Moorside
Every paper this week in Cumbria has a double page spread about the plan to build 3 diabolic reactors on ancient green fields and hedgerows. The nuclear industry and their government cronies have done everything in their power to steamroller Cumbria down this vicious radioactive route. But still that is not enough for them. They are lying to Cumbrians about the amount of electricity these 3 untried untested “Chernobyl on steroids” reactors would produce. The double page advertorials printed in every local newspaper proclaim that “NuGen’s Moorside Project aims to provide approximately 7% of the UK’s current energy requirement.” This is a blatant lie. If NuGen do not know the difference between electricity and energy then why should we believe their other blatant lies that this will be “safe” “low carbon” and the biggest lie of all is the pretence that nuclear is not killing us with increasing radiation linked diseases.
Radiation Free Lakeland 20th April 2015 read more »
Energy Policy
The deal with EDF on the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point is the most significant single contribution to meeting the targets for a decarbonised energy supply and an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. There is a decent case for it. But it is telling that the coalition has had to rely so heavily on the one technology that is most compatible with “business as usual”. Beyond nuclear, there has been a lack of strategic thought. It took the intervention of Mr Cameron to get a deal on the fourth carbon budget, which led to the levy control framework that will raise a peak of £7.6bn from consumers and suppliers to invest in renewables by 2020. The chancellor, George Osborne, had become the leading nay-sayer after scoffing in 2011 that he would never “save the planet by putting Britain out of business”. Lib Dems take pride in the role of Britain in developing the EU’s demanding carbon reduction targets, but they lost out on ambitious plans for home insulation through the green deal that were compromised by an over-complicated structure, while the green investment bank never got the borrowing rights it needed to fulfil its promise.
Guardian 20th April 2015 read more »
The SNP manifesto also contains the following key pledges: Energy bills / fuel poverty We will support lower energy bills for consumers by pushing for the Energy Company Obligation to be funded through general taxation and not as a levy on energy bills. We will also support new powers to make sure that energy companies pass on the benefits of lower prices to consumers. Reform of OFGEM grid-connection charges: We will also press for a change to the transmission charging system that is penalising Scottish generators and threatening the future of Longannet power station. Energy sector employment: For workers in the oil & gas sector – we will keep the pressure on the UK Treasury to do all it can to protect jobs and investment in the oil and gas industry in light of lower global oil prices and will work to increase internationalisation opportunities for Scotland’s oil and gas industry. Renewables: The additional investment we seek should include investment in our energy infrastructure so we can continue to maximise renewables generation, in particular offshore.
Scottish Energy News 21st April 2015 read more »
The UK could adopt a new set of climate targets in line with Scotland’s current emissions and clean energy goals targets, if the SNP holds the balance of power during the next parliament. The nationalist party today published its manifesto, which promises to use its influence on a future UK government to ensure the rest of the country matches and supports Scotland’s goal of cutting CO2 emissions 42 per cent on 1990 levels by the end of the decade, en route to an 80 per cent reduction by 2050.
Business Green 20th April 2015 read more »
Labour launches green manifesto nine years after Cameron hugged husky. Labour and the Lib Dems both back a resource security review – whither the other parties? The plan is based on a host of well-established Labour policies, including the commitments to enhance the energy efficiency of five million homes over the next decade, introduce a decarbonisation target for the power sector for 2030, and beef up air quality measures across the UK. However, it also contains a number of newer commitments on supporting community energy, mobilising investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS), and launching a review of UK resource security. In addition, the plan seeks to set out the rationale behind some of Labour’s green manifesto commitments, detailing for example how the decarbonisation target for the power sector is justified on the grounds that the “rollout of low carbon power generation by 2030 is a key part of the cost-effective path towards meeting our 2050 target”.
Business Green 20th April 2015 read more »
Nuclear & Climate
James Hansen, a former head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies who was one of the first scientists to raise concerns about global climate change, spoke at MIT Tuesday in the biennial David J. Rose Lecture, sponsored by the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE). “I think you need to be open-minded. We should be looking at all the carbon-free energy sources, and figuring out what their contribution should be — and frankly, the market should be helping us do it. … We should have a carbon-free energy portfolio, and let the market find what is the least expensive way. We should be doing [research and development] on all the good candidates, and certainly nuclear is one of them.”
Science 2.0 18th April 2015 read more »
Radwaste
RESEARCHERS at the University of Sheffield say that the UK can dispose of its nuclear waste using just six boreholes and a site no larger than a football pitch. The ‘deep borehole disposal’ (DBD) concept is an incredibly straightforward principle. It aims to dispose of dangerous nuclear waste by drilling a hole around 5 km long and less than a metre wide into the bedrock, burying capsules of waste at the bottom and then sealing the shaft back up. “Deep borehole disposal is particularly suitable for high-level nuclear waste, such as spent fuel, where high levels of radioactivity and heat make other alternatives very difficult,” says Sheffield professor Fergus Gibb.
Chemical Engineer 20th April 2015 read more »
Nuclear Research
A UK university has received a £3.5 million grant to build a new custom-designed facility which will research and develop nuclear materials. It was awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to the University of Huddersfield.
Energy Live News 20th April 2015 read more »
Flamanville
CONSTRUCTION work on a new reactor at a French nuclear power plant 30 miles from Jersey’s east coast can go ahead despite the discovery of weak spots in the steel, an energy firm working on the project has said. Electricity company EDF has confirmed that techniques being used to build the new reactor at Flamanville comply with regulations. The new reactor, which is designed to withstand a plane crash, will be the third on the site. Earlier this month, Areva, which is leading the building project, discovered weak spots in the steel casing which could reduce the resistance of the metal. Joe Carnegie, Jersey’s emergency planning officer, has said that there is no risk to Jersey at the moment as the reactor is not yet active but that he was in regular contact with the French authorities.
Jersey Evening Post 20th April 2015 read more »
French power utility EDF said the construction work will continue at its Flamanville 3 nuclear plant in western Normandy, despite recently discovered anomalies in the reactor.
Energy Business Review 20th April 2015 read more »
Germany
The bill for shutting down Germany’s nuclear power plants and building a safe disposal site for nuclear waste could rise to 70 billion euros ($75 billion), the head of a government commission told daily Frankfurter Rundschau in an interview E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall [VATN.UL] are due to switch off their nuclear plants by a 2022 deadline set by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. A decision by E.ON to restructure its business and spin off its conventional power plants raised additional fears that taxpayers may end up footing a portion of the bill for dismantling the nuclear plants and storing waste. The costs for the nuclear exit could rise to up to 70 billion euros over the next decades, meaning that the 36 billion euros ($38 billion) in provisions set aside by the four nuclear operators were not sufficient, he added.
Reuters 20th April 2015 read more »
Australia
Australia is well placed to reduce emissions at low cost because the costs of carbon-free technologies such as wind and solar have fallen significantly in recent years. A WWF report produced in collaboration with the Australian National University argues Australia could source 100% of its power from renewables by 2050 – without incurring massive adjustment costs or depressing economic growth – if there were clear and stable national policy settings to support investment in renewables.
Guardian 20th April 2015 read more »
Trident
Putin has made the nuclear question even more complicated – and Trident may not be the answer. At present, the argument focuses on whether to scrap or renew Trident; or to replace it with cruise missiles, which fly more slowly and carry fewer warheads. But some in the defence world believe the whole debate is deluded. Trident, in its current form, was designed to deliver “minimum deterrence” – that is, using as little force as possible to threaten Russia with “unacceptable loss”. The method is to maintain at least one submarine continually at sea, armed with up to 12 missiles, each capable of dropping eight warheads on to enemy cities. But few people understand that the UK’s nuclear deterrent is a system – not a technology – and one that must constantly evolve as the threat changes. For a nuclear-armed submarine to pose a credible threat, it must avoid being tracked by Russian submarines. To do that it must get out of the River Clyde and, once at sea, be protected by aircraft trying to spot the Russian subs, plus an undersea surveillance system whose sensors are scattered across the ocean bed. On top of that, those controlling Trident must engage in a data-crunching battle with the Russian navy, whereby each side uses predictive modelling to guess where the other’s subs will be.
Guardian 20th April 2015 read more »
Renewables
The past five months have been full of heartening news for the renewable energy industry, which has grown used to the opposite. Instead of the subsidy cuts, bankruptcies, trade rows and investment dips that dominated the sector three or four years ago, there have been record levels of installations, surprising price falls and a welcome surge in spending. Global investment in renewable energy bounced up for the first time in three years last year to $270bn, a 17 per cent rise from 2013, the UN Environment Programme reported last month. A $75bn boom in solar power installed in China and Japan drove part of the surge, along with a record amount of offshore wind farm investment in Europe. But the more interesting aspect of the $270bn spent last year, that does not include investment in large hydropower plants, is the record amount of so-called modern renewables it helped fund. At least 95 gigawatts of wind and solar generating capacity was installed last year, far more than the 70GW built in 2011, the only year when the dollar amount invested was higher – at $279bn.
FT 20th April 2015 read more »
Renewables are finally becoming a globally significant source of power, according to a United Nations Environment Programme report released in March by Frankfurt School UNEP Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Driven by rapid expansion in developing countries, new installations of carbon-free renewable power plants in 2014 surpassed 100,000 megawatts of capacity for the first time, according to the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report. It appears that renewable energy is now entering the market at a scale that is relevant in energy industry terms – and at a price that is competitive with fossil fuels.
Guardian 20th April 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
Construction work on a commercial-scale solar park in Angus will start at the end of this year, according to developers. Aberdeen-based BWE Partnership has already gained planning permission for a 9.5MW solar photovoltaic (PV) park on farmland at Carmyllie, near Arbroath. BWE said the project could produce enough energy to power 6,670 homes. It has already secured a 9.5MW connection agreement with Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution.
BBC 21st April 2015 read more »
Scotsman 21st April 2015 read more »
Renewables – Anearobic Digestion
A plant that turns grass into gas could be Britain’s answer to fracking, according to its operators. The anaerobic digestion system will be one of the first such plants to feed gas directly into the British grid and the first to be fed solely on grass. The development in Gloucestershire by Ecotricity, a green energy company, would heat 6,000 homes. It will enter the planning stages within months and could be operating before 2017, should it receive approval. Britain’s home heating grid is increasingly reliant on imported gas, mainly from Norway and the Middle East. Gas production in the UK has fallen by more than two-thirds since 2000. Advocates for the fracking industry, including the three major political parties, argue that shale gas will be necessary to maintain Britain’s energy independence. But opponents and the renewable energy industry point to fracking’s slow roll-out and carbon footprint as reasons to bypass the technology. Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, said the company’s system of turning grass into methane could be a game-changing addition to the UK’s energy mix.
Guardian 20th April 2015 read more »
Carbon Capture and Storage
Two groups of US scientists are exploring new ways of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One technology mimics the tree by using artificial photosynthesis. The other exploits a membrane that is a thousand times more efficient than any tree.
Climate News Network 20th April 2015 read more »
Climate
Global businesses are set to reach an agreement to work together to support a higher carbon price, more green technology in cities and greater renewable energy use ahead of the global climate pact to be signed in Paris this year. Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chief executive of Schneider Electric who is playing a leading role in the Business & Climate Summit in May, told the Financial Times that the meeting of business leaders will put pressure on world governments to act.
FT 20th April 2015 read more »
