Hinkley & Offshore Wind
New figures show that the Anholt offshore wind farm in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden had an impressively high capacity factor of 50% last year. This is all the more impressive since, as Mike Parr, Director of energy consultancy PWR points out, 2014 was a year with unusually low wind speeds. In an average year the capacity factor would have been more like 75%. This means, writes Parr, that if just 10% of the Kattegat region were developed for offshore wind, it would deliver 40% more power than the proposed Hinkley nuclear power station at a lower cost. According to Parr, this presents an unique opportunity to Europe. He calls on policymakers in Brussels and elsewhere to ensure that it will not be lost.
Energy Post 3rd March 2015 read more »
Hinkley
SOUTH West Green party candidates predict that the Hinkley Point C project could collapse within the next 12 months. At a press conference in Bridgwater yesterday they argued that Somerset urgently needs to draw up a Plan B for energy and the local economy. Southwest MEP, Molly Scott-Cato, Theo Simon, Julie Harvey-Smith, Green Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for Somerston and Frome and Julie Harvey-Smith, Green PPC for Bridgwater and West Somerset attended the conference. Mr Simon said: “Our policy makers at every level have colluded lock, stock and barrel with EDF’s plans for Hinkley C – and democracy has paid the price. The only people who are not yet fully-committed are EDF themselves. “Whether sooner or later, an EDF pullout is now on the cards, and that will leave a black hole in the finance and infrastructure plans of our district, county and national government. Somerset’s future has been wished up on the back of the coalition’s promised nuclear bonanza, but the financial chickens have come home to roost for EDF and their French sister company Areva, and they have delayed their final investment decision yet again. “
Cheddar Valley Gazette 3rd March 2015 read more »
Labour’s shadow spokesperson for energy in the Lords has slammed the government’s strike price deal with EDF to guarantee the price of electricity generated at the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant for having a “massive destabilising” effect on the energy market. Speaking at the Ecobuild conference in London, Baroness Worthington, shadow spokesperson for energy and climate change for the House of Lords, said the deal had caused a “crisis of confidence” in the future of energy production in the UK. Worthington was speaking at a political debate at Ecobuild that pitted the Labour spokesperson against Liberal Democrat energy minister Ed Davey and Green party leader Natalie Bennett.
Building 3rd March 2015 read more »
A special conference hosted by Green MEPs will this week seek to dismantle the case for Hinkley C nuclear power station and bring an end to the argument that nuclear is ever part of a sustainable energy future. The London conference will take place to coincide with the 4th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster and will reveal the findings of a soon to be released report commissioned by Molly Scott Cato MEP. The report will say: The South West has the potential to generate more than enough of its energy needs through renewables; Renewables would provide significant revenue by keeping money circulating in the local economy and through exporting surplus energy to the national grid; There is the potential for at least 80,000 new jobs in the renewables sector; Rapidly declining costs of renewables together with new energy storage technologies and local smart grids will ensure that renewables are highly competitive with other forms of energy generation and ultimately cheaper than nuclear; Inadequate funding mechanisms and a lack of political will are holding back the renewables sector in the South West; Large scale divestment from fossil fuels and nuclear power and investing instead in renewables could rapidly create a low carbon resilient future for the South West.
Molly Scott Cato 3rd March 2015 read more »
Moorside
Friends of the Lake District and the Lake District National Park Authority are getting together to oppose pylons through the Lakes from Moorside. People think this is grand – this is great, at last some action. BUT to “support the offshore route for pylons” while IGNORING Moorside, while keeping schtum about the plan to more than double Sellafield’s footprint merely piles on the pressure for new nuclear build. The pylons WILL NOT go ahead if Moorside is scrapped, and it should be, the sooner the better.
Radiation Free Lakeland 3rd March 2015 read more »
Heysham
Unit 7 at Heysham 2 power station has been shut down to start its planned £30m maintenance outage. One thousand extra workers will join the site’s 700-strong team during the 10-week period. The team will carry out more than 15,000 separate pieces of work – each carefully planned during two years of preparation. The extensive programme of work will see inspections inside the reactor, as well as the installation of new equipment.
The Visitor 3rd March 2015 read more »
Sizewell
EDF Energy hopes to convert arable farmland on the northern outskirts of Leiston into a wildlife haven that will include some of the UK’s most precious and internationally important habitat types.
East Anglian Daily Times 3rd March 2015 read more »
Radwaste
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) submits today its views on the future development of the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). NFLA‟s main comment to the consultation is that CoRWM needs to become more independent than its current membership is, and that it needs to follow the Swedish example in advising on a more open and transparent process for the radioactive waste management policies of the UK Government and the Devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales.
NFLA 2nd March 2015 read more »
Scotland
Letter: IT is clear from your article (“New nuclear” is a burning issue again, The National, March 2) that the nuclear industry and its supporters – including the Labour Party and the current Coalition Government – still nurse determined ambitions for further expansion in Scotland.
The National 4th March 2015 read more »
Areva
French nuclear group Areva pledged to cut 1 billion euros (728 million pounds) of costs, boost its partnership with utility EDF and expand in China in an attempt to turn around the loss-making, state-controlled company. Areva’s 2014 net loss soared to 4.83 billion euros, slightly below the unaudited 4.9 billion announced last month, dragged down by charges including 720 million of new provisions on its Olkiluoto 3 Finnish reactor project, it said on Wednesday. Areva said it would detail a three-year financing plan before publication of first-half results on July 30 that would include more selective capital expenditure, asset disposals and partnerships with an equity component.
Reuters 4th March 2015 read more »
Utilities
Integrating more variable generation and storage, but no new nuclear units, are among the characteristics Exelon sees in the utility of the future, as outlined by Chief Strategy Officer William A. Von Hoene Jr. at the MIT Energy Conference, held Feb. 27–28. He began his Saturday address by saying that innovation is “absolutely indispensible.” Old, regulated utilities had little reason to innovate, he noted, but major shifts are forcing changes in business as usual. Macro shifts—hydraulic fracturing and the natural gas boom it enabled in the U.S., slow load growth, the need for carbon reduction, and increasing water concerns—plus technology shifts—renewables and distributed generation, smart grid technologies, plus efficiency and beyond-the-meter components—already are affecting utilities. Von Hoene’s keynote address on “Building the Utility of the Future” echoed the company’s general attitude, as expressed by CEO Christopher M. Crane, that there is no disruptive technology—we must see them as enabling, Von Hoene said.
Power Mag 2nd March 2015 read more »
Warnings from a senior power industry figure over the damage that current transmission charging policy is doing to Scotland must be heeded by Westminster, the SNP has said Keith Anderson, Chief Corporate Officer at Scottish Power, has warned transmission charges are a barrier to new electricity generation in Scotland, making clear that “there needs to be a fair and level playing field with the rest of the UK in order to develop new power generation in Scotland.”
Scottish Energy News 4th March 2015 read more »
Politics
The Conservative Party’s low-carbon ambitions were thrown into question today (3 March) as one of its MPs became embroiled in a row about the science of climate change and condemned further investment in renewables. During a heated political debate which was supposed to focus on how the next Government will replace the UK’s polluting power stations with green alternatives, Peter Lilley took his time at the plinth to suggest that politicians of all parties – including his own – have “enormously exaggerated” the effects of global warming.
Edie 3rd March 2015 read more »
Energy Demand
UK carbon dioxide emissions fell by more than nine per cent in 2014 year-on-year, according to Carbon Brief analysis of newly released government energy data. A 20 per cent reduction in coal use and record warm temperatures both contributed to the decline in emissions. Continued falls in energy use were also a factor. The estimated 9.2 per cent fall in UK carbon emissions is the second largest year-on-year reduction since 1990. Only 2009, when the economy collapsed following the global financial crisis, had a larger reduction of 9.5 per cent.
Carbon Brief 4th March 2015 read more »
Hungary
Hungary’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law to classify for 30 years all data and contracts related to the planned EUR12.5 billion euro ($14 billion) expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant by Russia.
Nasdaq 3rd March 2015 read more »
Taiwan
A coalition of environmental protection groups yesterday rallied in front of the legislature to protest Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) holding of an international bid to reprocess 1,200 bundles of highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods overseas, saying the move has violated administrative procedures and could encourage the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Taipai Times 3rd March 2015 read more »
Saudi Arabia
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flies to Riyadh this week to try to reassure King Salman that any nuclear deal with Iran will be in Saudi interests, despite the kingdom’s fears that it may boost Tehran’s backing for Shi’ite Muslim groups in the region. Convincing Saudi Arabia to accept any agreed nuclear deal is important to President Barack Obama because he needs Riyadh to work closely with Washington on a host of regional policies and to maintain its role as a moderating influence in oil markets.
Reuters 3rd March 2015 read more »
Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu tore apart diplomatic protocol on Tuesday by launching an extraordinary attack on Barack Obama, accusing the president of accepting a nuclear deal “that paves Iran’s path to the bomb”. In a stinging speech before the US Congress, the Israeli prime minister excoriated Mr Obama in his own capital, denouncing every aspect of the president’s policy towards Iran. Mr Netanyahu urged America to walk away from the “very bad deal” that he said was taking shape over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Telegraph 3rd March 2015 read more »
Binyamin Netanyahu has urged a packed US Congress to resist an emerging deal to contain Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons in a fiery speech that may significantly complicate ongoing international negotiations in Switzerland.
Guardian 3rd March 2015 read more »
Russia has signed an agreement to provide services to 1,000MW Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. The five-year cooperation agreement has been signed by Rosenergoatom CEO Evgeny Romanov with Iran, reported Russian news agency Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today). Under the terms of the agreement, Rosatom’s subsidiary Rosenergoatom will construct new power stations at the Bushehr plant.
Energy Business Review 3rd March 2015 read more »
France
EDF has shut down the 1,800MW Fessenheim nuclear power plant in north-eastern France, following technical problems at one of its reactors. A leak was detected in a pipe downstream of the condenser in the engine room outside the nuclear zone, last week. An EDF spokeswoman said that the incident did not affect the security of the installations, employees or the environment.
Energy Business Review 3rd March 2015 read more »
Defence Nuclear Safety
There has been a sharp rise in the number of ‘nuclear safety events’ at the Clyde naval base in Scotland, with official records showing 105 incidents occurred in 2013-2014, compared to 68 the previous year. Scottish National Party minister Angus Robertson raised questions in the House of Commons over nuclear safety incidents at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, forcing ministers to disclose the information. Robertson had previously raised concerns about safety conditions at the site. The 45 latest incidents at the base between 2013-14 involving nuclear propulsion were level C events, categorised as a “moderate potential for future release or exposure, or localized release within a designated radiological controlled area.” The remaining 54 were classed as level D defined as “low potential for release – but may contribute towards an adverse trend producing latent conditions.”
Professional Engineer 3rd March 2015 read more »
Daily Record 3rd March 2015 read more »
Trident
Rethinking Trident – influencing the Trident replacement and nuclear weapons debate.
NFLA 27th Feb 2015 read more »
Ed Miliband was last night forced to restate Labour’s support for Britain’s nuclear deterrent after a survey indicated that a majority of the party’s candidates opposed it. The online survey claimed that 75 per cent of Labour candidates were against renewing Trident. A senior Labour aide urged caution, since the poll was commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the headline figure was based on responses from only 12 per cent of Labour candidates.
Times 4th March 2015 read more »
Herald 4th March 2015 read more »
Burghfield
Bishops have sent messages of support to campaigners blockading a nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire. Bishop Thomas McMahon, the bishop emeritus of Brentwood, said the activists who are blocking the entrance to AWE Burghfield, which manufactures Trident warheads, reminded the world of “the madness and immortality of weapons of mass destruction”.
Tablet 3rd March 2015 read more »
Nuclear Testing
Rare audio of a nuclear bomb test in Nevada 1953.
Daily Mail 4th March 2015 read more »
Nuclear Weapons
There are currently more than 16,300 nuclear weapons in the world – enough to kill everyone on the planet 100 times over. Now an interactive infographic has been created that tracks the number and history of nuclear weapons in the nine nations responsible for many of these warheads. They include the US, UK, Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. Between them, these nations possess 10,000 nuclear warheads, 4,100 of which are active.
Daily Mail 3rd March 2015 read more »
Renewables – onshore wind
Nearly 5GWe of onshore wind power schemes already given planning permission and a further 5 GWe awaiting planning consent face the prospect of not having the finance to be installed the schemes if the Conservatives win the election in May. The Tories are promising that onshore wind and solar projects will not be funded after 2020. They will only support some offshore wind projects and solar pv on rooftops. Some of the 10 GWe of wind power schemes under threat will not gain planning consent, and some will be awarded so-called ‘contracts for difference’ (CfDs) under the Government’s current programme of awarding contracts through auctions under electricity market reform (see previous blog post). But I estimate that at least 5GWe of already planned onshore wind projects that have or will get planning consent will be left stranded with no premium price contracts – and won’t be implemented. This represents on its own around 3 per cent of UK electricity consumption – no doubt much more would be forthcoming if it were not for the threat of the Tory axe. No wonder the accountants are writing down the UK as an investment possibility for renewables. Labour’s Tom Greatrex has missed a prime opportunity to outflank the SNP when he talked about how Scotland needed nuclear power. What he should have done is called for a bigger renewable energy target for Scotland. Labour says it wants to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2030. 150 per cent by 2025 would seem moderate (perhaps even puny) in this scenario. Actually Scotland is making rapid progress towards its current 2020 target of 100 per cent of electricity demand from renewables by 2020. 150 per cent by 2025 is certainly plausible, and with onshore and offshore renewable energy prices falling, quite cheap. The Danes, as usual the trailblazers in wind power, have just announced a contract for what will be the world’s cheapest offshore wind park, at just £75 a MWh, for just a 12 years premium price contract. Compare this with the Hinkley C deal of £92.50 for a staggering 35 years and £10 billion of loan guarantees that offshore wind does not usually receive.
Dave Toke’s Blog 3rd March 2015 read more »
Renewables – tidal
PLANS for an energy generating tidal lagoon in Bridgwater have been revealed today.
Central Somerset Gazette 2nd March 2015 read more »
Renewables – solar
The Solar Trade Association has warned that the government’s energy-supply contract auctions are putting solar power generators in the shade. An STA spokesman explained; “We’ve now had the results of the first round of CfD auctions and there is clearly a problem for solar and small and medium sized players. It looks like the UK solar industry will develop no large-scale projects over 5MW this year (2015/16) as a direct result of Government policy.
Scottish Energy News 4th March 2015 read more »
Renewables – wave
The new body charged with developing Scotland’s wave energy technology should be based in Lewis and not in Inverness or Edinburgh, according to an island politician. Wave Energy Scotland (WES) is to receive a total of £14.3 million from the Scottish Government over the next 13 months, it was announced last week. Now Western Isles Labour Westminster candidate Alasdair Morrison has called for the new body to be located in Lewis so that it does not become “another distant quango living off peripheral resources”. WES was set up in the wake of the collapse of Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power which went into administration in November, as well as Aquamarine shedding staff and Siemens’ withdrawal from Marine Current Turbines.
Herald 4th March 2015 read more »
Energy Scenarios
The “Options, Choices, Actions” Report displays how the UK can implement an affordable 35 year transition to a low carbon energy system by 2050, but there are different ways of getting there.
Energy Technologies Institute 3rd March 2015 read more »
Energy Efficiency
David Cameron’s plan to exempt 200,000 homes from zero-carbon standards will lock buyers into higher energy bills and poorer quality housing, says the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC). The Prime Minister announced yesterday that he wants to offer a 20% discount on 200,000 new homes for young first-time buyers, paid for by lifting obligations on house-builders. Among other things, these obligations usually require that homes built from 2016 onwards are completely carbon neutral. The UKGBC has called Cameron’s plans to scrap these regulations “incredibly short-sighted”.
Edie 3rd March 2015 read more »
Fuel Poverty
An organisation campaigning for cheaper electricity charges for people living on the Western isles has criticised a £40,000 donation from SSE to a charity. The money will be used by Energy Action Scotland to raise awareness of the help available to people struggling to pay their household fuel bills. Describing the money as “window dressing”, Western Isles Poverty Action Group said SSE could afford to do more. SSE said the donation was aimed at helping its most vulnerable customers. Western Isles Poverty Action Group and the islands’ local authority Comhairle nan Eilean Siar have been urging SSE to push on with its work towards a “social tariff” for energy bills.
BBC 4th March 2015 read more »
GPs will be encouraged to “prescribe” free boilers or insulation to patients living in cold homes, under plans backed by energy secretary Ed Davey. Ministers on Tuesday announced £1m of funding to build on current small-scale trials of “warmth on prescription” programmes, which have so far helped a small number of patients in the North East. Patients suffering from respiratory diseases that are exacerbated by the cold have received home improvements worth about £5,000 each under the trials.
Telegraph 3rd March 2015 read more »
Climate
Green technology should be as much a focus of tackling climate change as the United Nations negotiations leading up to a crunch conference in Paris this December, the UK’s top foreign office adviser on climate said on Tuesday. Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the UK government and now the special representative for climate change, said: “Technology is moving ahead very rapidly. I think we need to focus not only on the details of the negotiations, but also on what the technological revolution is going to bring to us.”
Guardian 3rd March 2015 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Shale gas – extracted by the technique of hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ – is being promoted by the UK government and parts of the energy industry as having a large potential to contribute to the country’s energy needs. Claims have been made that it will bring down energy bills and increase energy security without significant environmental and health impacts. But there is much public concern that this will not be the case – and many argue that there are more sustainable options. With fracking for shale gas being relatively new, there are many gaps in the scientific literature regarding its impacts, and the public debate often relies on information from either anecdotal sources or the industry itself. However, an increasing volume of impartial, evidence-based information now exists. In July, SGR and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) published a joint briefing, which drew on peer-reviewed literature to present a robust, fully-referenced overview. It challenged some of the commonly-repeated claims that, in many cases, fail to stand up to proper scrutiny. In this article, we summarise and update the key findings of the briefing.
Scientists for Global Responsibility 3rd March 2015 read more »
The demise of fossil fuels is finally in sight – Here’s why. Jeremy Leggett explains why he is launching a new initiative to chronicle the end of the age of fossil fuels. The world has witnessed an extraordinary series of events that have combined to develop a ‘tipping point’ in the decline of fossil fuel industries, driven by three emerging mega-trends. First, the cost of deploying renewable energy systems is generally falling. In fact, 2013 saw new renewable energy generation overtake conventional fossil fuel and nuclear installations globally. Secondly, the cost of delivering hydrocarbons is rising. Drilling for shale is losing its appeal, with US shale companies going bankrupt, drillers losing money and assets being written off by the multiple billions. Thirdly, the politics of climate abatement are showing signs of aligning. More than 100 countries now have a 2050 target to reach zero net greenhouse gas emissions.
Business Green 3rd March 2015 read more »
Insurance companies could suffer a “huge hit” if their investments in fossil fuel companies are rendered worthless by action on climate change, the Bank of England warned on Tuesday. “One live risk right now is of insurers investing in assets that could be left ‘stranded’ by policy changes which limit the use of fossil fuels,” said Paul Fisher, deputy head of the bank’s prudential regulation authority (PRA) that supervises banks and insurers and is tasked with avoiding systemic risks to the economy.
Guardian 3rd March 2015 read more »
Independent 4th March 2015 read more »
