Utilities
Peter Atherton: Britain is playing Russian Roulette with its energy policy – and it is shareholders in the utility companies who are likely to get shot. Several events could bring an energy crisis to a head. Wholesale prices could rise if the market expects short-term supply problems, while longer-term shortages threaten actual power cuts. Meanwhile, rising energy bills for consumers or profits for the energy companies could become politically unacceptable, forcing the Government to renege on its policy commitments to the industry, such as minimum prices or investment returns. We think it’s highly probable that several of these catalysts could combine to create a “perfect storm” for energy within the next decade. If so, there will be three casualties – the Government, the consumer and investors in energy firms. While there is likely to be plenty of pain, recent experience in Europe has shown that governments will protect themselves and consumers by heaping the bulk of the financial pain on to investors.
Telegraph 8th May 2013 read more »
Energy Bill
The coalition has today underlined its commitment to delivering action on climate change and accelerating investment in new low carbon energy and infrastructure projects, after the Queen’s Speech confirmed plans to bring forward new bills to support spending on energy, water, and rail projects. Speaking before Parliament, the Queen reaffirmed the government’s plan to move forward with its new Energy Bill, which is designed to deliver wide-ranging reforms to the electricity market.
Business Green 8th May 2013 read more »
Details of a scheme to pay generators for having capacity available will be announced “in the coming weeks”, according to energy and business minister Michael Fallon. However, the government has yet to commit to implementing a capacity market. The Energy Bill passing through Parliament provides for its introduction but does not guarantee it. The capacity mechanism is intended to boost the economic case for building gas-fired plant that are expected to run only intermittently, to back up renewables. Fallon said: “This is our ‘insurance policy’ to ensure continued security of electricity supply and through it, if initiated, we can offer steady payments to capacity providers to guarantee their availability in the event of a crisis.”
Utility 8th May 2013 read more »
Sizewell
The Suffolk Resilience Forum has reported the results of a public consultation on new Sizewell A and B emergency planning proposals. Residents, local groups, town and parish councils were represented among the responses received. Overall, people supported the proposals which take into account concurrent national work being completed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The consultation proposed the following changes: Extending the detailed emergency planning zone from its current 2.4km to 4km, in line with new international guidelines. Residents who live in this area would receive regular information on emergency actions and would be the first priority in the unlikely event of an incident at the site. Setting up a precautionary emergency planning zone up to 15kms to improve awareness of emergency planning arrangements to this wider area and allow prompt extension of any emergency response in more extreme situations. Increasing capacity for evacuation, rest centres and radiation monitoring.
Haverhill Echo 7th May 2013 read more »
The emergency planning zone around the Sizewell nuclear power stations in Suffolk could be extended to include more homes.
Heart 7th May 2013 read more »
Wylfa
Public consultation on the request for consent to decommission Wylfa nuclear power station. Responses should be sent by 9th August 2013.
HSE 7th May 2013 read more »
Radwaste
Radiation Free Lakeland have received a reply from the Department of Energy and Climate Change regarding geological dumping of high level nuclear waste. Their responses to our questions are not just evasive and disingenuous. The replies indicate that Cumbrians have not got through to these jokers in government that we are: a. Not willing; b. Fully aware of Cumbria’s unsuitable geology. Having tried to rubbish the qualifications of those scientists blowing the whistle on a geological dump in Cumbria and failed, now it seems DECC is trying to rubbish the qualifications of the Nirex Inspector saying “The Inspector and his Assessor were not qualified to assess fully the safety case for a geological disposal facility via a planning application..” This is disingenuous. A full safety case would be made only after a suitable site had been selected. Obviously the Nirex Inspector Chris McDonald and his Assessor Colin Knipe were deemed more than eminently qualified to appraise possible site selection earlier in the process, including preliminary safety cases.
Radiation Free Lakeland 8th May 2013 read more »
THE SNP Government’s policy for dealing with nuclear waste was yesterday dismissed as “incredibly naive”. Nuclear safety engineer Dr John Large warned Alex Salmond could be forced to spend billions on disposing of it deep underground – and he criticised the storing of lower level radioactive waste, including radioactive graphite, metals, sludge, liquids, and concrete, as well as materials contaminated with plutonium, at “near surface, near site” facilities. Dr Large, said: “The contract to re-process Scottish nuclear fuel after independence may well continue. That is a matter between BNFL at Sellafield and the operators of the nuclear plants in Scotland. But what is really important, is the low level and intermediate radioactive waste that is left for the Scottish Government to deal with. “Its policy of storage near the surface is incredibly naive and short-sighted. It needs a policy for disposal, and it is highly unlikely the rest of the UK would want to take it from an independent Scotland in the future.
Express 9th May 2013 read more »
The Scottish Government is being urged to spell out what will happen to spent nuclear fuels and other nuclear materials in Scotland after independence. These are currently sent to Sellafield in Cumbria for reprocessing and are also stored south of the border. But Liberal Democrats say there is no reason why this would continue if Scotland is not part of the UK. A Parliamentary answer issued by environment secretary Richard Lochhead says it will be dealt with in a “a responsible way” if Scots vote yes in next year’s referendum but does not set out where the materials will be sent. Lib Dem environment spokesman Liam McArthur said: “If Scotland chose to leave the UK there is no reason why spent nuclear fuel would continue to be sent to a city in a then foreign country.
Scotsman 8th May 2013 read more »
Europe
EU leaders will grapple with controversial issues including shale gas development and climate change mitigation at an energy summit on 22 May, documents obtained by EurActiv show. As agreed at the 14-15 March summit (see background), EU leaders will meet to discuss how to lower energy prices and so improve the Union’s industrial competitiveness. According to the draft guidelines for the summit conclusions, prepared by the services of Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the EU heads of state intend to focus on “key aspects” of energy policy aimed at boosting growth, productivity and employment to help overcome the effects of the economic crisis. Competitiveness, in the EU energy policy context, translates into a re-thinking of the Union’s climate policies. Recently, the powerful employers’ group BusinessEurope called on European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to radically shift the EU’s energy policy away from climate change mitigation towards cost-competitiveness and security of supply. Leaders are also expected to task the Commission to assess a “more systematic recourse to indigenous sources of energy, both conventional and unconventional”. Unconventional sources usually refers to shale gas, which many believe has triggered an industrial revival in the USA, but is viewed with suspicion by several EU countries.
Euractiv 8th May 2013 read more »
Nuclear Research
Nuclear plant developer Westinghouse’s chief executive, Mike Tynan, has been appointed chief executive of the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre by Sheffield University. Mr Tynan joined Westinghouse in 2005, having previously held senior positions at a number of UK nuclear sites, including Sellafield. He led the integration of Westinghouse nuclear plant, fuel and services businesses in the UK and the group’s drive to gain government approval for the design of its AP1000 reactor.
Sheffield Star 8th May 2013 read more »
Protest
An elderly Catholic nun and two peace activists have been convicted for damage they caused while breaking into a US nuclear defence site. A jury deliberated for two and a half hours before handing down its verdict. The three face up to 20 years in prison following their conviction for sabotaging the plant, which was first constructed during the Manhattan Project that developed the first nuclear bomb.
BBC 9th May 2013 read more »
Sky 9th May 2013 read more »
Washington Post 29th April 2013 read more »
Vanunu
An archive telling the story of the UK campaign to free Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu is now available at the University of Bradford. Mr Vanunu is a former Israeli nuclear technician who revealed details of Israel’s nuclear weapons programme to the British press in 1986. He was convicted for treason and espionage and spent spent 18 years in prison. The archive of the campaign to free Mr Vanunu, and for a nuclear-free Middle East, was donated to the Commonweal Archives, part of the University’s Special Collections, last year.
Telegraph & Argus 8th May 2013 read more »
US
The Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin shut down for the last time on Tuesday, but it is preparing to break new ground for the American nuclear industry. It may go to sleep, Snow White-style, for 50 years, to be awakened when its radioactivity has subsided. Dominion says it has reserved enough money to do the job, and a big enough bank account if the reserve fund does not suffice. So far, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees, although a commission expert said the actual budget was open to question. But “when you try to do any of these calculations beyond seven years, I’ll be frank with you,” said Michael Dusaniwskyj, an economist with the commission. “It’s a shot in the dark.”
New York Times 7th May 2013 read more »
The US Air Force has relieved 17 officers of their responsibilities for the control of intercontinental nuclear missiles, a military spokesman confirmed, citing a poor performance review.
Telegraph 9th May 2013 read more »
Scotsman 9th May 2013 read more »
BBC 8th May 2013 read more »
Guardian 8th May 2013 read more »
Iran
The US Congress has moved unilaterally to force Europe to tighten Iran sanctions, announcing new measures that will force EU banks and businesses to deny Iran access to euro-dominated foreign exchange reserves.
Telegraph 9th May 2013 read more »
Japan
The galvanising effect of the March 2011 tsunami was not immediate. The Japanese initially headed off a potential energy crisis – following the shutdown of all the country’s nuclear plants – by pulling together to cut energy consumption. Yet industry’s concern about an expensive and erratic energy supply raised the spectre of a mass exodus. Businesses were already complaining about the high yen, steep corporate taxes, lack of trade agreements and stiff emissions targets. For the first time in a generation, there were genuine questions about whether whole industries would decamp.
FT 8th May 2013 read more »
Renewables
John Hayes, the former energy minister, has warned a council it is “unsafe” to plan a new wind farm because the Government is about to crackdown on unpopular developments. He is objecting to a development of nine 400ft turbines by Wind Ventures in his own constituency of South Holland. In a letter to the chief executive of South Holland District Council, Mr Hayes suggested that new rules of wind farms will make developments that communities object to “unsafe”.
Telegraph 8th May 2013 read more »
The European Commission has proposed a tough 47pc “anti-dumping” tariff to penalise the imports, it emerged on Wednesday. The move would benefit European manufacturers, who allege their Chinese rivals – whose panels are as much as 45pc cheaper – are unfairly subsidised by Beijing. Chinese solar panel production quadrupled between 2009 and 2011, exceeding global demand, and EU manufacturers say China has now captured 80pc of the European market. However, action against the Chinese imports is fiercely opposed by European solar panel installation companies which have thrived on the cheap supply and claim that hundreds of thousands of jobs could be at risk.
Telegraph 8th May 2013 read more »
Green Investment Bank
The chief of the UK’s £3bn green investment bank is preparing to move the bank to borrowing and raising debt, in order to vastly expand its scope in bringing forward renewable energy and other environmental projects across the country. The move would be a sharp break with the current set-up of the bank, which on Thursday published data for the first time on its initial investments totalling £635m. It receives money from the Treasury in order to fund green projects, but is not allowed to raise money on the capital markets, in the way normal banks do to fund their investments.
Guardian 9th May 2013 read more »
Carbon
The remaining clauses of the finance bill will be debated next week. One of those, clause 197, is, on the face of it, a simple clause to uprate the Carbon floor price. But then, looking a little further we see that the next clause introduces a whole new schedule which junks all the previous legislation on carbon floor price and replace it with new provisions. In short, the carbon floor price will, by the end of next week have been fully decoupled from what might happen to the European Emissions Trading Scheme, even as some members of the Government work to retrieve EU ETS. We might think a carbon floor price is a good thing, combined with EU ETS, but entirely separate from it, and predicated on a virtual zero price for the next three years out? Not so sure. Obviously, from Treasury’s point of view it is good business raking in vast sums of money with no hypothecation on the pretence that (as the HMRC budget note tells us ‘the carbon floor price is designed to encourage additional investment in low carbon generation by providing greater support and certainty to the carbon price.’ All said with a straight face, of course, but we need to remember that the Carbon Floor Price, so long as EU ETS exists, does not save an ounce of CO2, since the allowances that would have been traded simply go elsewhere in Europe, probably to the longer term detriment of the system itself. So to summarise, in case anyone’s got a bit lost by now: Treasury (and by the way the nuclear industry for reasons set out here) get lots of free money based on a projected virtually nil price for ETS and its replacement with a tax, no carbon is saved from being emitted, and the claim can be made that this is all ’encouraging investment in low carbon power’.
Alan Whitehead 8th May 2013 read more »
Climate
The Prince of Wales has criticised “corporate lobbyists” and climate change sceptics for turning the earth into a “dying patient”, in his most outspoken attack yet on the world’s failure to tackle global warming. He attacked businesses who failed to care for the environment, and compared the current generation to a doctor taking care of a critically ill patient.
Guardian 9th May 2013 read more »
The United States’ proposal to let countries draft their own emissions reduction plans rather than working toward a common target can unlock languishing UN climate negotiations, the US climate change envoy said on Tuesday.
Guardian 8th May 2013 read more »
Ed Davey, the energy and climate change secretary, is to use a major speech at Clarence House on Wednesday afternoon to fight back against the increasingly vocal climate change scepticism among other parts of the coalition. His uncompromising speech, seen by the Guardian, promises stronger action on global warming and follows the admission by his party leader, Nick Clegg, that green issues are now some of the most serious flashpoints between the coalition partners. The Liberal Democrats have long sought to be seen as strong on the environment, a core issue for the party’s voters. But they have suffered setbacks in government as the Treasury has cut renewable energy support and an increasingly vocal number of Tories oppose windfarms, money for low-carbon projects and tougher targets for UK emissions cuts, all of which the Lib Dems support.
Guardian 8th May 2013 read more »
Bonn established that the outline of a global climate deal acceptable to all parties is faint, but gradually appearing. The USA has historically pushed for a bottom-up ‘pledge and review’ process, which is effectively what we have now, and evidently not enough. Others, notably the EU and smaller developing nations at acute risk from climate change, want a legally binding ‘top down’ agreement. What emerged in Bonn was a willingness to explore the middle ground and discuss an EU proposal known as the ‘Spectrum of Commitments’. This could allow all countries to contribute towards global efforts to reduce emission levels within a range of varying commitments.
RTCC 9th May 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
The first exploration well for shale gas in the home counties will be drilled this summer, fracking company Cuadrilla announced on Wednesday. Cuadrilla has already faced protests at its site in Lancashire, where its drilling caused a small earthquake, and beginning operations at Balcombe in Sussex is set to be a stern test of its ability to work in the face of community opposition.
Guardian 9th May 2013 read more »
Cuadrilla Resources has confirmed it will drill for oil in the Home Counties, pitting the fracking company against local campaigners. A 3,000ft vertical well, which could be extended by 2,500ft, will be drilled into the ground in West Sussex in order to take samples. Cuadrilla, which insisted no fracking will take place in the village of Balcombe at this time, said it would “discuss plans with residents” in a bid to ease local tensions over the proposals. Francis Egan, Cuadrilla’s chief executive, is aware people will have concerns after the company faced protests in Blackpool when its controversial fracking technique caused a small earthquake.
Telegraph 8th May 2013 read more »
FT 8th May 2013 read more »
Peter Lilley: Britain can’t afford to surrender to the greens on shale gas. The scandal of official reluctance to develop Britain’s shale gas potential is at last beginning to surface. It may prove to be the dress rehearsal for the ultimate drama — the inexorable collapse of our whole energy strategy.
Spectator 11th May 2013 read more »
