nuclear-news

Story – 2030: Will Europe have the courage to fix its climate & energy tools?

Leading environment journalist Sonja van Renssen gives an insight into the EU’s progress on reducing green house gas emissions in order to tackle climate change and an outlook on the debate on reduction targets for 2030 coming up next year.

According to the European Environment Agency, Europe is doing very well tackling climate change. A closer look on the figures shows that there is still a lot to achieve. While only four out of 28 member states – namely Bulgaria, Denmark, France and Germany – show good progress on reducing emissions, many other states are lagging behind. Belgium, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for example have problems to meet their renewable targets. Austria, Luxembourg and Spain are the three member states that are struggling most to reduce emissions from transport and households.

Although the economic recession might have facilitated the reduction of industry-related emissions the trend is going in the right direction, argues the European Commission. Also in terms of decoupling economic growth from emission developments progress is visible. “The decoupling trend is the result of policies”, says the institution. The European Climate Foundation (ECF) is less satisfied with the current developments and points out that more has to be done.

Regarding the green house gas emission targets for 2030 the European Commission and the European Climate Foundation are in disagreement. While a reduction of 40% is enough for the Commission, the ECF favours a reduction target of at least 50%. A debate on this target will take place at the European Council in March 2014.

Featuring statements by Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director at the European Environment Agency, Jos Delbeke, Director-General for Climate Action at the European Commission and Stephen Boucher, Programme Director of the European Climate Foundation

December 18, 2013 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

UK Union Says EU Blocking Of Hinkley Point Would Be ‘A Disaster’

GMB said it had learned that the EU College of Commissioners will be notified tomorrow, Wednesday 18 December, that the competition commissioner has “some doubts” about the Hinkley Point C agreement and is likely to agree to the launch of a formal investigation into the proposals.

This follows the announcement in October 2013 that EDF Group and the UK government had reached in principle an agreement on the key commercial terms for an investment contract for the construction of two EPR units at Hinkley Point C in Somerset.

One of those terms is a “strike price” of 89.50 pounds (about 145 US dollars, 105 euros) per megawatt-hour, which will increase in line with inflation.

The strike price had been the subject of negotiations between EDF and the government that began last year. It is the guaranteed price at which EDF will be able to sell the electricity it generates at Hinkley Point C.

Kathleen Walker Shaw, GMB European officer, said GMB understands that a 90-page internal document will be presented at an EU meeting tomorrow looking at “all the angles of the deal”. She said such forensic preparation of the case in advance, identifying all the issues, and looking at all options is common, as so many disputed competition cases end up in court.

Once the investigation is formally launched, the EU Commission will launch a consultation period of four weeks for interested third parties to put forward their views, GMB said. The date of the formal launch will be published in the Official Journal of the EU – this is likely to be in January 2014.

According to GMB, Joaquin Almunia, the commissioner for competition, has indicated he would wish to see the investigation concluded before the end of the current EU Commission term in October 2014. There is optimism it will be completed by summer 2014.

Gary Smith, GMB national secretary for energy, said the EU investigation is a routine and normal process within state aid and competition procedures and that an investigation is under way is “no basis for scaremongering reports”.

However, he said the UK is already several years behind schedule on new nuclear. He said: “Were the EU to block Hinkley Point C for some unexpected reason this would be a disaster for jobs and the associated UK nuclear industries. It cannot be overstated what a blow this would be to our energy sector and the related jobs.”

© NucNet a.s.b.l Brussels, Belgium

December 18, 2013 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

China needs Western help for nuclear export ambitions

…CGN, a southern Chinese utility, this year changed its name from China Guangdong Nuclear to China General Nuclear as part of its push to reach beyond its home region. As an operator of nuclear plants, it has modelled itself on EDF.…

http://main.omanobserver.om/?p=40009

Tuesday 17th, December 2013 / 22:34 Written by Oman Observer

While China has already built reactors for its ally Pakistan, Hinkley Point is its first nuclear project in a developed world, writes David Stanway

CHINA’S investment in Britain’s £16 billion Hinkley Point project is its first foray into Europe’s nuclear power market and a marker of its global ambitions, but its firms will depend on foreign partners if they are to fulfil them.
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) plan to take a combined 30-40 per cent stake in a consortium led by French utility EDF to build French-designed EPR reactors in southwest England. China has the world’s largest nuclear building programme at home and hopes to leverage this into a nuclear export industry.

While China has already built reactors for its ally Pakistan, Hinkley Point is its first nuclear project in a developed country, and Beijing hopes the UK credentials will help promote its two nuclear giants on the global stage.
But industry analysts say gaps in the Chinese supply chain, fears of political interference and inexperience in the economics of nuclear power mean the firms will struggle to go it alone.

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December 18, 2013 Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment