Nuclear Subsidy
In the intervening years, the cost of new reactors has risen so fast that constructing them without any government support has become unthinkable. When the Blair government first backed the idea of a new generation of nuclear plants in 2007, energy companies insisted they could build them without any public subsidy. Five years later, that claim seems painfully naive. Hence the governments energy bill, a sweeping reform of electricity markets designed to encourage £110bn of investment in low-carbon energy. At its heart is a system of long-term contracts that give power companies a guaranteed price for clean electricity in the hope that this will reduce the investment risk for projects with high upfront capital costs, such as nuclear reactors and offshore wind farms.
FT 23rd July 2012 more >>
EMR
A conflict between the UK Treasury and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is making UK energy policy unworkable, in the words of the parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft energy bill. The House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee, in a report released July 23, said DECC was being disingenuous, to say the least, when it claimed that it was never DECCs intention for government to underwrite the proposed new feed-in tariff with contracts for difference. Instead, the committee said it believes a conflict with Treasury led to the about-face on how the contracts would work. The committee said political considerations and questions about violating EU state aid rules had driven DECC to design the contracts for difference (CFD) in such a way as to allow policy and financial support for nuclear to be rolled up with that for renewables. Nuclear power should be treated separately from renewable energy under the electricity market reforms and the government should return to its original proposals to underwrite the long-term contracts that will provide guaranteed power prices to nuclear and other low carbon energy generation projects, the committee said.
i-Nuclear 23rd July 2012 more >>
MPs have accused the Treasury of making the government’s clean energy revolution unworkable and creating the risk of higher household bills. They said Treasury changes to the draft Energy Bill will increase the risk of borrowing for investors. They added that it would put up the cost of renewable and nuclear power, with customers bearing the extra cost.
BBC 23rd July 2012 more >>
Scotsman 23rd July 2012 more >>
A parliamentary committee has called for greater scrutiny over the private negotiations between EDF Energy and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, England. Under DECC proposals, EDF would qualify for a feed-in tariff with contract for difference (CfD), essentially a long-term contract with a guaranteed price for power.
I-Nuclear 23rd July 2012 more >>
Horizon
The management of Horizon, the energy group, and government officials are to start detailed talks with potential investors, including Chinese state-owned power groups, about building nuclear reactors in Anglesey and Gloucestershire. At least two consortiums have told the government and Horizon, which is being sold by German energy groups Eon and RWE, that they are interested in bidding for the venture, which plans to build new reactors near the sites of existing nuclear plants at Wylfa, Anglesey, and Oldbury, Gloucestershire. The first is led by Toshiba Westinghouse, the Japanese-owned nuclear reactor manufacturer, in partnership with State Nuclear Power Technology Corp of China and Exelon, the US power generator. The second comprises Areva, the French state-controlled reactor manufacturer, and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp, po ssibly in partnership with other energy groups and investors. SNPTC is a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp set up to develop “third-generation” nuclear technologies and already has joint ventures with Toshiba-Westinghouse. CGNPC is also state-owned and is building new reactors with Areva in southern China. It is thought that GE Hitachi, the US-Japanese nuclear joint venture, is also interested in bidding, but it would be at a disadvantage as it has not started the long process of getting its reactor technology licensed in the UK, unlike Areva and Toshiba Westinghouse.
FT 23rd July 2012 more >>
Major Chinese companies are not normal commercial enterprises as they are understood elsewhere, but entities with complex, and often close, connections with the countrys government. Their ability to consider costly investments under conditions of considerable commercial uncertainty reflects this peculiar character. In the event of conflict with China, nuclear power stations with a significant Chinese presence could pose serious threats to the UK: at the minimum, the disruption of power supplies; at the maximum, explosive sabotage of the facilities. New nuclear power stations, with the long-term storage of high-level nuclear waste, will make potent dirty bombs, as the Fukushima events demonstrated. Such dangers suggest that responsible UK governments need to review the sources of investment in any new nuclear developments through a clear, strategic-security lens.
FT 23rd July 2012 more >>
Radwaste
Fears have been raised that if the Marsh was to host a £12 billion facility storing nuclear waste from across the UK, house prices would crash and residents would struggle to sell their homes because fewer people would want to move here. BUILDING a burial centre for radioactive waste on the Marsh could devastate the local housing market, local estate agents have warned.
Folkestone Herald 24th July 2012 more >>
Hinkley
EDF confirms that Hinkley is now one year behind schedule.
Building 24th July 2012
ttp://www.building.co.uk/news/sectors/infrastructure/nuclear/hinkley-nuclear-plant-now-a-year-behind-schedule/5040146.article?
Japan
The report, the second this month about the disaster, could be seized upon by Japan’s increasingly vociferous anti-nuclear movement after the restart of two reactors, and as the government readies a new energy policy due out next month. A government-appointed inquiry into the Fukushima nuclear crisis has raised doubts about whether other atomic plants are prepared for massive disasters despite new safety rules, and delivered a damning assessment of the regulators and the station’s operator.
Guardian 23rd July 2012 more >>
Canada
Westinghouse Electric Company said it will prepare detailed construction plans and cost estimates for two AP1000 reactors based nuclear plant for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) at the latter’s Darlington site in UK.
Energy Business Review 24th July 2012 more >>
Renewables
ALEX Salmond has warned that his Government’s flagship policy of making Scotland dependent on renewable energy by 2020 could be scuppered by delays and uncertainty from Westminster over subsidies. The blunt message comes amid speculation George Osborne is considering cutting renewable subsidies not by the 10% proposed in a recent consultation but by as much as 25%. The First Minister said the Scottish Government’s own consultation on its Renewables Obligati on showed that “robust and reasoned analysis and evidence” supported a subsidy reduction for onshore wind of 10% from April 2013 or a 0.9 Renewables Obligation Certificate and that he knew of no other evidence that supported a different approach. Mr Salmond added the Scottish Government had made its “clear statement of intent” on the renewables issue to reassure investors that its commitment to the sector remains strong. Holyrood alone has committed £200 million to renewables over the next three years.
Herald 23rd July 2012 more >>
George Osborn has demanded that the Lib Dems accept a watering down of green targets as the price for sparing the onshore wind industry from swingeing subsidy cuts. David Cameron
has been urged to intervene in a rapidly escalating row that threatens to derail planned reforms to the UK’s energy sector.
Guardian 23rd July 2012 more >>
Solar panel installations are 54% less than the weekly average for the previous year, following a cut to the government’s feed-in tariff incentive scheme in April.
Guardian 23rd July 2012 more >>
