Dong Energy, the world’s leading developer of offshore wind energy, says it is ready to offer the UK more offshore wind power should prime minister Theresa May scrap construction of a nuclear plant. Although there is no suggestion yet that the nuclear plans might be scrapped, the programme was thrown into fresh uncertainty by the UK government’s recent announcement that it would “review” the project. “We would be able to further accelerate and expand the build out of offshore wind should there be such a need,” Dong’s chief executive officer Henrik Poulsen told Bloomberg in a recent interview. “Of course, that’s entirely leaving those decisions to the UK Government.” As Bloomberg noted, some energy analysts say offshore wind could be an economically-viable alternative to nuclear. In contrast to the massive price of building the UK’s next generation of nuclear power stations and the very high strike price for the project, costs in the offshore wind sector are coming down quickly. “If the Brits cancel Hinkley and need more offshore wind power it’ll certainly be something we can help with,” Mr Poulsen told Bloomberg. “We just want to make the point that if they want to accelerate the build-out of offshore wind energy we’re at their disposal.”
Offshore Wind Journal 23rd Aug 2016 read more »
Theresa May will wish to avoid at all costs the appearance of being reluctant to do business with China, something the Chinese Government will inevitably characterise any attempt to put the blockers on Hinkley Point as. Already China’s state-owned media has hinted that future investment projects in the UK were contingent on Hinkley getting the green light. The Prime Minister travels to Hangzhou next week for the G20 summit and the matter will inevitably come up. The problem that Mrs May has is that while we need Chinese investment we do not need Hinkley. It is a massively over-expensive boondoggle of a project and one that is not suited to our energy needs. This is far from an anti-nuclear diatribe. It is hard to envisage any energy strategy for the UK that would not involve atomic power of some description. But a vast power station, which will take ten years to bid, is an out-of-date solution for a market which is rapidly decentralising and evolving. For a start nuclear power is undergoing a mini revolution in terms of how it operates. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are a new kind of nuclear power, one that is smaller, cheaper, scalable and far safer. And we are building them here in Yorkshire.
Yorkshire Post 22nd Aug 2016 read more »