U.K. Talks Down Brexit Impact on Energy Security

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The U.K. believes it can maintain a close energy relationship with Europe after Brexit despite growing concerns that the country will not have enough expertise to finish major power projects.

Richard Harrington, the undersecretary of state at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), confirmed that nuclear power and research is one of the four priority areas that the U.K. hopes to maintain close links with the European Union (EU) after its planned exit in 2019. He denied that Brexit will harm the country's energy security while speaking to a House of Lords committee on the European Union, Energy and Environment.

"As far as security of supply is concerned, I do not believe it will affect it because we have a very well-functioning, competitive and resilient energy system now," he said. "The capacity market, new nuclear, offshore wind and so on have helped a lot to [achieve diversity of supply]. I believe that government intervention generally--with contracts-for-difference and the capacity market options, for example--has made sure that we are not too dependent on any particular source of supply."

He emphasised the importance of electricity interconnections with Europe. The U.K. currently has 4 gigawatts (GW) interconnection with neighbouring countries, mainly France. There are a further 9.5 GW of interconnection projects that have been granted permission or are seeking permission. Two projects to connect with Norway and Belgium with a combined capacity of 4.4 GW are currently under construction, with additional French projects underway. For additional information, see September 26, 2017, article - Work Underway on First U.K.-Belgium Power Link and April 17, 2017 article - Contracts Awarded for U.K.-France Power Link.

At the same committee hearing, representatives for Horizon Nuclear Power, which is behind the proposed 2,600-megawatt (MW) Wylfa nuclear power project in Wales, said that "some kind of project-specific visa arrangements" would be required post-Brexit as a sizeable contingent of EU workers will be needed to build the new plant.

Ben Russell, head of policy and external affairs at Horizon, said that skills are an issue: "Whether they are steel-fixers, carpenters or civil construction skills, they are going to be the same sorts of workers that other nuclear new-build programmes require, as well as other large infrastructure projects. So I think for us there is a need to link the post-Brexit visa arrangements with nationally significant projects. If you're a designated NSIP [Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project], there might be a special arrangement within visa arrangements to make sure that those projects that are by their nature strategically important can be delivered. We will clearly be looking to take most of our workforce from Anglesey, north Wales, Wales, the U.K., but precedent shows a sizable contingent for any large infrastructure project comes from the EU."

Foratom, the European nuclear trade body, recently published a list of priorities for Brexit negotiations and the impact on the nuclear industry. It called on the EU and the U.K. to start negotiating their post-Brexit relationship immediately and be ready to put transitional arrangements in place to avoid any disruption to the nuclear fuel cycle. It also called on both sides to ensure the free movement of nuclear workers.

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