SMRs
Engine maker Rolls-Royce has won a place on a Whitehall shortlist of bidders vying to fuel Britain’s nuclear renaissance. The energy department is understood to have picked businesses including Rolls-Royce and American engineering giant Bechtel for the next round of a competition to find a small modular reactor (SMR) design that could power Britain’s homes and businesses. Last year Whitehall announced a five-year £250m nuclear research programme, which included funds to run a competition to find the best-value SMR. These would be factory-built nuclear reactors that are small enough to be transported on the back of a truck or by train and designed to plug into the grid to provide a local power supply.
Times 5th June 2016 read more »
Moorside
Church Moss has been given official designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest but apparently this does not strengthen the increasingly weak knees of the Environment Agency who have bowed down before the fanaticism of the nuclear mafia. The developers, NuGen describe this special place as “an empty reactor site.” How dare they?! I suppose they dare because no one, NO ONE is challenging them. No one dares to go against the nuclear industry’s diabolic plan for Cumbria – why is that? Oh Yes, we have have challenged them, we being a rag tag group of Cumbrians who oppose nuclear, but where are the organisations that have “conservation” and “protection” in their job descriptions? Those who say they love Cumbria and Lakeland – where are they? If they are waiting for the right moment they are leaving it very late.
Radiation Free Lakeland 5th June 2016 read more »
Energy Policy – Scotland
Scotland’s Renewable Future conference – which featured a galaxy of star speakers – has generated a ‘first draft’ of the new Scottish Energy Strategy for the Scottish Government. While the newly-appointed Scottish energy minister and trade and industry secretary take time to come up to speed with their new portfolios, leading figures in the Scottish renewables sector have been able to save them some time. Notwithstanding the greater UK-constitutional realities under which the Scottish Government does not have full control of all the economic levers, the industry wants to see clear and positive leadership – as well as much more, and much faster, progress to. Draft new Scottish Energy Strategy: De-carbonise heating and transport, with specific and measureable milestones and with pre-set annual percentages for the public sector (health, education, local government, emergency services, etc); Develop and implement the following specific policies to create new employment in Scottish renewables sector: Greater support – including specific policy goals and measurable milestones – for solar power – ‘even in Scotland!’ Greater support – including specific policy goals and measurable milestones – for using one of Scotland’s biggest natural resources (cold water) for heatpumps in housing; Clear policy, practice and delivery, on energy storage – notably battery storage for solar PV systems; Clear policy objectives for ‘smarter grids’ and active network management – ie policy-led practice rather than ‘simple’ technology-led ‘silo-working’ – ie a ‘system-wide’ approach. A supportive policy framework to give both on- and off-shore wind time to become subsidy-free; A focussed and targeted unit aimed at supporting the development of a Scottish wind turbine and blade manufacturing sector (in the same way, for instance, that Scot-Govt stepped into create Wave Energy Scotland following high-profile corporate collapses in the sector); Clear and specific policy goals and measurable milestones for carbon-capture and storage (rather than political grand-standing and party point-scoring); Clear and specific policy goals and measurable milestones for hydro-power; Clear and specific policy goals and measurable milestones for marine/ocean energy.
Scottish Energy News 6th June 2016 read more »
India
Behind the Lourdes Matha church in Idinthakarai, a fishing village at the southern tip of India, five women have abandoned their chores to protest at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Today is day 1,754 of their relay hunger strike, which began when the plant was fuelled in 2011. Celine, 73, is among the five protestors, who take it in turns to go without food. “Not a single government, not a single political party is willing to take up our cause,” she says. “Only Mother Mary can save us now.” The villagers of Idinthakarai, in Tamil Nadu state, have been protesting against the plant since the late 1980s, when it was proposed. But theirs is a lonely struggle. Few people in India have even heard of their village, let alone support their protest.
Guardian 6th June 2016 read more »
Finland
Fennovoima, the company behind the project worth up to 7bn euros, is bullish. The 1,200 megawatt power plant – known as Hanhikivi 1 and due to be completed by 2024 – could provide Finland with about 10 per cent of its electricity, boost the country’s economic growth, and be a boon for a group of local companies as well as Russia’s Rosatom. Fennovoima thinks it can avoid the proble ms that have dogged the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear project in Finland and Hinkley Point in the UK. Unlike the former, Rosatom is not just a supplier but also a big shareholder, with a 34 per cent stake in Fennovoima. And the cost of the proposed new Finnish reactor is well below the £18bn (24bn euros) estimate for Hinkley Point, even if the UK plant is bigger, at 3,200MW. When Finland announced plans in 2002 to build a nuclear power station it sparked excitement in industry circles because it would be the first such plant to be built in western Europe for more than a decade. The Olkiluoto 3 reactor was due to open in 2010 at a cost of about 3 bn euros. It is now set to go online in 2018 at a cost of about 8.5bn euros if a long list of delays and cost overruns is not added to. Olkiluoto’s supplier, a consortium of France’s Areva and Germany’s Siemens, is suing the operator, Finland’s TVO, for 3.5bn euros in an arbitration action, alleging much of the delay is the Finnish company’s fault. TVO is countersuing for 2.6bn euros, claiming that Areva and Siemens should bear the bulk of the unforeseen costs. The bad blood is causing a delay to plans by EDF, the French utility that is planning to build a nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in the UK, to buy Areva’s reactor business. Talks between Areva and TVO to find a solution that would allow EDF to proceed broke down last month.
FT 5th June 2016 read more »
UAE
Nuclear power is the best way for the world and the UAE to meet its energy demands, according to top nuclear energy professionals at the recently concluded Rosatom Atomexpo 2016. Atomexpo is the largest exhibition venue for meetings and negotiations between world leaders in the nuclear power sector. This year’s exhibition and conference focused on new players entering the nuclear energy sector.
Khaleej Times 5th June 2016 read more »
100% Renewables
A raft of new companies including Tetra Pak, Interface and Equinix have pledged to source 100% renewable energy as part of a RE100 initiative that will be galvanised by a government-led push to promote the renewables revolution to 1,000 businesses. Unveiled on Thursday (2 June), at the Seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) in San Francisco, a new ‘Corporate Sourcing of Renewables’ campaign – led by the German and Danish Governments – will aim to add to the six new RE100 pledges – from Equinix, Tetra Pak, TD Bank Group, Interface, Dentsu Aegis Network and Workday – to drive the commitment across 23 countries and the European Commission.
Edie 3rd June 2016 read more »
Renewables – Scotland
WORLD Environment Day was marked by the SNP’s Joan McAlpine by her calling on the UK Government to reverse their position on cutting support for renewables. While the SNP in government has met ambitious targets on energy the progress made by Scotland so far is being put at risk by the decision of the UK Government to cut support for renewables projects, the MSP insists. She also praised the SNP’s new target for producing 100 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2020.
The National 6th June 2016 read more »
Renewables – onshore wind
The recently-appointed head of RenewableUK has said the prospects of building new wind turbine parcs in England are slim because the weather is not windy enough and because of the withdrawal of state subsidies. Hugh McNeal, who quit a senior civil service job at DECC to take up the post of chief executive at Renewable UK, told the Sunday Telegraph that the industry could make the case for more onshore turbines in some parts of the UK, despite the withdrawal of subsidies. But he said this would “almost certainly” not be in England, as the wind speeds were not high enough to make the projects economically viable without subsidy.
Scottish Energy News 6th June 2016 read more »
Daily Mail 5th June 2016 read more »
The Prime Minister was unequivocal. “Enough is enough,” he told MPs in the run-up to the general election. “I think the public are, frankly, fed up with so many wind farms being built that won’t be necessary. “We don’t need to have more of these subsidised onshore.” A year on from the election of the Conservative Government, which swiftly implemented its pledge to end subsidies for onshore wind and promised to stop the headlong pursuit of green energy at all costs, one might expect to find a defeated wind industry sombre and resentful. Yet as a new chief executive, Hugh McNeal, takes the helm of its trade body, RenewableUK, the industry appears defiantly confident that it can still carve out a future for wind, both offshore, and on. The challenge it faces, in both cases, is proving the technologies offer value for money. For onshore, the obstacle remains the Tory ban on subsidies.
Telegraph 5th June 2016 read more »
Renewables – offshore wind
Plans for the world’s biggest offshore wind farm have been thrown into doubt over fears the noise of building it will disturb porpoises. A decision on planning permission for Dong Energy’s 1.8 gigawatt Hornsea Two project, which would see up to 300 giant turbines built 55 miles off the coast of Yorkshire, had been due from the Department of Energy and Climate Change by next week. But the decision has been delayed after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs proposed designating a vast, 14,000 square mile tranche of the North Sea – including the entire 115 square mile area of the proposed wind farm – as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for the harbour porpoise. As a result, a Habitats Regulations Assessment must now be carried out to look at “the likely significant effects of the project, both alone and in-combination with other plans and projects” on the porpoise protection zone.
Telegraph 5th June 2016 read more »
A group of Europe’s largest energy companies has pledged to cut the cost of offshore wind farms closer to that of gas and coal power stations as governments face pressure to cut green subsidies. Germany’s two biggest power utilities, RWE and Eon, have joined Swedish rival Vattenfall and Norwegian oil and gas group Statoil to declare they can drive down costs to 80 euros per megawatt hour by 2025, close to half today’s average levels. Together with seven other companies, including turbine makers such as Germany’s Siemens and the US group General Electric, they say offshore wind farms can be “fully competitive” with new fossil fuel power stations – under the right conditions. “This commitment is only possible with a stable, long-term market for renewables in Europe,” the 11 companies say in a joint statement to EU policymakers. They warn there is a “serious question mark” over how much support governments will offer the industry after 2020, when existing EU renewable energy targets are to be replaced by less stringent goals for 2030.
FT 5th June 2016 read more »
Renewables – AD
Farmers are leading a backlash against the Government’s latest cut to green energy subsidies, warning it will deprive the struggling agricultural sector of a valuable source of income. In a consultation quietly published late last month, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) proposed slashing subsidies for anaerobic digestion (AD) plants. Anaerobic digesters take organic materials, such as crops or agricultural waste, and break them down using bacteria to produce “biogas” and fertiliser. The gas can then be burnt to produce electricity, or processed and sold into the mains gas grid. DECC plans to remove subsidies for big new AD plants and cut support for smaller new plants. Farmers’ union the NFU has warned the changes could sound the “death knell” for new biogas on farms. It estimates that farmers own about 200 AD plants, about two-thirds of all such plants in the UK, while up to 1,000 farms may have an interest in AD, for example by supplying them with crops. Dr Jonathan Scurlock, NFU chief adviser on renewable energy said: “We are very worried now. This is bad news for the rural economy, and bad for agricultural efforts to tackle climate change.” He said there was a pipeline of up to 500 further AD plants in the early stages of development but that farmers would struggle to get financing for projects under the proposed cuts.
Telegraph 5th June 2016 read more »
Energy Efficiency
WITH six months to go until Scotland’s newest bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, is opened, campaigners are calling for the country’s next big infrastructure project to be one that makes a difference to people’s homes in every part of Scotland, whilst also helping to realise a more socially-just and low-carbon future. The Scottish Government will have almost £10 billion to spend on capital investment over the next three years. Members of the Existing Homes Alliance, whose members include WWF Scotland, Changeworks, and the National Insulation Association, are calling for the forthcoming Spending Review to include significant investment in a National Infrastructure Priority for energy efficiency, with an overall goal for all housing to be warm and healthy by 2025, helping all homes to reach the Energy Performance Certific ate (EPC) band C. Such a move would help the 35 per cent of households in Scotland currently in fuel poverty, save the NHS money and create new jobs. Unlike other infrastructure projects, these jobs would be spread around every part of Scotland, creating and sustaining many small and medium sized businesses.
The National 6th June 2016 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Oil, gas and coal companies face financial disaster if they ignore the implications of the Paris climate change accord and should be required to tell investors how they will avoid such threats, a British economist has warned. Lord Nicholas Stern has told a climate task force set up by the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, that the gap is disturbing between what politicians signed up to in the Paris agreement struck in December and what fossil fuel companies are assuming. “This gap should alarm policy-makers and central bankers,” he says in a submission to the task force, chaired by Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, and due to report in December.
FT 6th June 2016 read more »
Ports from south-west England to central Scotland have been taken aback by the speed at which demand has evaporated for what had been one of their most dependable cargoes – coal. As coal-fired power stations across the country shut, ports have been hit by a sharp drop in imports of a vital ingredient for that industry.
FT 5th June 2016 read more »
Nick Butler: Remember the Arab Spring and the heady promise of freedom and peace in the Middle East? Many normally sensible observers were carried away by the excitement of the internet-led revolution in Tahrir Square and across the region. Now, a similarly happy transformation is promised in the energy market as the world moves away from oil, gas and coal. The transition is certainly coming but its implications will be as disruptive and dangerous as those of the Arab Spring. We should be prepared for the consequences rather than misled by wishful thinking. The shift to a low-carbon energy system will be smooth, orderly and beneficial for most of the global economy: that is the view of a new set of papers from the Global Agenda on the Future of Oil and Gas – a group set up by the World Economic Forum, the organisers of Davos. Unfortunately, all the evidence so far points in the opposi te direction. The shift may be beneficial in terms of the world’s environment, but economically and politically the result could be dramatically destructive. Five years ago, the obsession of oil market analysts and commentators was with peak oil, meaning peak supply as finite resources were used up. The argument influenced price speculation and encouraged some companies to invest in expensive projects. Times change and now the common view is that demand will peak before supply, although there is no agreement on when that will occur.
FT 6th June 2016 read more »
World records tumbled in renewable energy this month. Utilities, facing short-term existential threat in the face of clean-energy growth, continued to wrestle with the imperative of escaping the energy incumbency. Oil and gas companies, facing longer term threat to business-model viability, read dire assessments of their prospects in places they could not have imagined possible until recently. Investors continued to awaken to climate risk, and a critical mass of governments stayed broadly on course for the current and future action that the Paris Agreement requires of them. None of this, however, happened as fast as the recent run of world-record monthly average temperatures merits. Unprecedented wildfires and die offs of coral reefs were harsh reminders this month of the race against time that civilisation is running.
Jeremy Leggett 5th June 2016 read more »
