Britain has hit a 34-day coal-burning streak, using the polluting fossil fuel to top-up its electricity supply every day from June 25th to July 28th. The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) warns of the danger of falling into a “fossil fuel trap” where there is not enough low carbon nuclear power to rely on in periods of low renewable generation, resulting in gas and coal being used instead. The NIA warns this will create more greenhouse gas emissions and higher energy prices, highlighting that the grid’s carbon intensity so far in 2021 is already higher than in 2020, marking the first year-on-year increase of this kind since 2012.

Energy Live News 30th July 2021 read more »

U.K. power prices have climbed so high that the cost of a new controversial nuclear plant, criticized for being too expensive, is now looking reasonable. Wholesale electricity prices have pushed above 100 pounds ($139) per megawatt-hour for the first time since 2008. That’s higher than the guaranteed rate the government agreed Electricite de France SA would get for the power produced from the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant being built in southwest England. The so-called strike price of 92.50 pounds set in 2013 was described by the National Audit Office as “high cost and risky in a changing energy marketplace.” The level was about double the wholesale market rate at the time. Power prices are surging amid the soaring cost of natural gas, with concerns over low stockpiles and the lack of additional supplies pushing U.K. prices to the highest since 2005. Elevated prices are likely to extend into winter when colder weather starts to increase demand, according to RBC Europe Ltd. Hinkley Point C isn’t due to come online until 2026 but the price guarantee for its power runs for 30 years. The mechanism, called contract-for-difference, is also used to subsidize offshore wind farms. By 2026, market rates are likely to be below the Hinkley Point strike price, according to Elchin Mammadov, analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “People complain about the cost of Hinkley being too high,” Mammadov said. “Paying a premium for building the first U.K. European Pressurized Reactor is justified as we would use that experience to lower the cost of future nuclear projects.” For Hinkley, the strike price in 2012 prices will be adjusted for inflation and will drop to 89.50 pounds if EDF takes a final investment decision on a second project at Sizewell on the southeast coast.

Bloomberg 30th July 2021 read more »

Householders have been warned to brace themselves for the biggest energy bills rise in a decade with more than half facing an increase of about £150 a year. The cost of gas and electricity is expected to soar as a result of the energy price cap being raised, which is due to be announced next week. Ofgem, the regulator, is preparing to allow suppliers to increase prices for 15 million households by as much as 13 per cent from October. It comes after a huge rise in wholesale costs. The price rise is particularly sensitive for the government as ministers grapple with how to fund Boris Johnson’s pledge to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. Officials have drawn up plans for a carbon reduction scheme that could push up gas bills by a further £170 a year. The plans, which are being considered before the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in November, are intended to encourage people to move to hydrogen boilers and heat pumps in an attempt to reduce emissions. The prime minister is also considering giving people annual “green cheques” to offset the cost of higher gas bills, as the cabinet faces a backlash from Tory MPs over the impact on households.

Times 31st July 2021 read more »

Ed Miliband: Our biggest enemy is no longer climate denial but climate delay. Future generations will look back on the climate events of 2021 and say: “That was the year they ran out of excuses.” Heatwaves and flooding here in the UK, temperatures topping 50C in Pakistan, hundreds killed by a heatwave in British Columbia, deadly floods in Germany and China. All within a single month. Add to that the recent dire warning from the Met Office that the age of extreme weather has just begun. The most dangerous opponents of change are no longer the shrinking minority who deny the need for action, but the supposed supporters of change who refuse to act at the pace the science demands. As Bill McKibben, environmentalist and climate scholar, says on climate: “Winning slowly is the same as losing.”

Guardian 30th July 2021 read more »