Released July 28, 2010 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The United Kingdom's new government has set out a 40-year energy plan in which nuclear power takes a back seat to wind and other renewable energy sources.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published its first Annual Energy Statement, outlining 32 actions to transform the U.K.'s energy mix as the country heads toward a severe energy crisis when older fossil-fuel and nuclear plants begin closing in the coming decade. However, nuclear power has been given the cold shoulder, as the government has ruled out any subsidies for building new nuclear plants.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is publicly anti-nuclear and has made it clear that while the coalition government supports the building of new nuclear power stations by 2018, energy companies will not recieve public subsidies.
"There are two different types of subsidy; one is that we have an overall framework to make sure that we get low-carbon electricity and that we become more energy self-sufficient. That will be available to everybody," Huhne said. "[There will be] no special subsidies for nuclear compared with these infant technologies."
Huhne's stance on nuclear power has come under fire from energy companies and market analysts. A new report from KPMG, commissioned by RWE npower Renewables (Swindon, England) , says that the next generation of nuclear power stations will not be built without government help. The report highlights how uneconomic it will be for energy companies to construct nuclear facilities on their own and said that the government's offer of a minimum price for carbon permits is not enough to encourage the billions of euros needed for nuclear investment.
"I want to ensure that nuclear investments take place, but because of the current situation, investments go into only gas-fired power stations or the renewable sector," said Volker Beckers, the chief executive of RWE npower, in a recent interview. "Only if you have a level playing field do you leave it with the market powers to make the right investment decision. If you have a stimulus for certain technologies, all the investments go into one specific technology and that would ultimately lead to a cluster risk."
The new energy roadmap pushes wind power, both onshore and offshore, to the forefront of renewable technologies, but importantly, biomass projects will benefit for the first time from 'grandfather' support under the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme. DECC will increase its support this autumn to local authorities that wish to develop local renewable energy schemes, and there will be renewed focus on energy-from-waste (EfW) schemes. A review of the electricity sector's regulatory framework will be undertaken with market regulator Ofgem to see what needs to be dome to speed up the rollout of renewable projects.
Huhne commented: "The era of cheap, abundant energy is over. We must find smart ways of making energy go further and value it for the costly resource it is, not take it for granted. And even as we reduce overall demand for energy, we may need to meet a near doubling in demand for electricity, as we shift industry, transport and heating onto the grid."
He added: "Our future energy system is too important to rely on crystal-ball gazing. The 2050 Calculator provides the most comprehensive, long-term analysis ever undertaken by government. It will guide the decisions we make during this Parliament about the energy system we want in 40 years' time. The challenge is ambitious but achievable. We're already on track to cut the U.K.'s emissions by 34% by 2020, and will do more if we can win the case for greater ambition across the whole EU."
IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published its first Annual Energy Statement, outlining 32 actions to transform the U.K.'s energy mix as the country heads toward a severe energy crisis when older fossil-fuel and nuclear plants begin closing in the coming decade. However, nuclear power has been given the cold shoulder, as the government has ruled out any subsidies for building new nuclear plants.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is publicly anti-nuclear and has made it clear that while the coalition government supports the building of new nuclear power stations by 2018, energy companies will not recieve public subsidies.
"There are two different types of subsidy; one is that we have an overall framework to make sure that we get low-carbon electricity and that we become more energy self-sufficient. That will be available to everybody," Huhne said. "[There will be] no special subsidies for nuclear compared with these infant technologies."
Huhne's stance on nuclear power has come under fire from energy companies and market analysts. A new report from KPMG, commissioned by RWE npower Renewables (Swindon, England) , says that the next generation of nuclear power stations will not be built without government help. The report highlights how uneconomic it will be for energy companies to construct nuclear facilities on their own and said that the government's offer of a minimum price for carbon permits is not enough to encourage the billions of euros needed for nuclear investment.
"I want to ensure that nuclear investments take place, but because of the current situation, investments go into only gas-fired power stations or the renewable sector," said Volker Beckers, the chief executive of RWE npower, in a recent interview. "Only if you have a level playing field do you leave it with the market powers to make the right investment decision. If you have a stimulus for certain technologies, all the investments go into one specific technology and that would ultimately lead to a cluster risk."
The new energy roadmap pushes wind power, both onshore and offshore, to the forefront of renewable technologies, but importantly, biomass projects will benefit for the first time from 'grandfather' support under the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme. DECC will increase its support this autumn to local authorities that wish to develop local renewable energy schemes, and there will be renewed focus on energy-from-waste (EfW) schemes. A review of the electricity sector's regulatory framework will be undertaken with market regulator Ofgem to see what needs to be dome to speed up the rollout of renewable projects.
Huhne commented: "The era of cheap, abundant energy is over. We must find smart ways of making energy go further and value it for the costly resource it is, not take it for granted. And even as we reduce overall demand for energy, we may need to meet a near doubling in demand for electricity, as we shift industry, transport and heating onto the grid."
He added: "Our future energy system is too important to rely on crystal-ball gazing. The 2050 Calculator provides the most comprehensive, long-term analysis ever undertaken by government. It will guide the decisions we make during this Parliament about the energy system we want in 40 years' time. The challenge is ambitious but achievable. We're already on track to cut the U.K.'s emissions by 34% by 2020, and will do more if we can win the case for greater ambition across the whole EU."
IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
