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Alternatives to Hinkley nuClear News No 85 May 2016  If there is anywhere between 4 and 18 months before a final investment decision on Hinkley is made what alternative proposals can be promoted over that time?

The Power to Transform the South-West In April 2015, Molly Scott Cato, the Green MEP for South West England, published a study which showed how the South-west’s energy needs could be met with renewable energy.  The report focussed on dealing with the baseload question and the economic impact of a renewable energy transition. It concluded that the South West has the renewable energy resources to meet more than 100% of its total energy needs, including replacement of liquid fuels and electrifying railways.

The South West has the potential to generate an estimated 18,935 MWe of electrical and 12,869 MWth of thermal energy. This equates to 102.6% of total future energy needs for South West assuming a 40% powering down due to energy efficiency measures by 2050. The recommendation from the study is that 12,000 MW (12GW) of energy capacity with 24,000 MWhrs of energy storage be developed in parallel with renewable energy resources. This storage would have the ability to charge and discharge twice per day providing 48,000MWhrs of daily energy from storage yielding 40% of the regions daily energy demand. In total this represents an investment of £8,780M in grid resilience and substantial future proofing from future energy price rises for the region.

Providing the South West with renewable energy and a local smart grid with energy storage and flexibility to meet spikes and drops in demand are estimated at around £60bn compared with around £82.5bn to provide all of the South West’s energy needs with nuclear.

Intergenerational Foundation More recently a report from the Intergenerational Foundation has calculated that Britain could save up to £40bn by going for renewable alternatives that would generate the equivalent power to Hinkley over the plant’s planned lifetime

The report called “Toxic Time Capsule” by Andrew Simms  says onshore windfarms would cost £31.2bn less than Hinkley, and solar photovoltaic power £39.9bn less over 35 years to build and run. The estimate is based on both the value of subsidies paid by the taxpayer for the electricity and the cost of building the infrastructure. The analysis is based on the government’s ‘contracts for difference’ subsidy levels for the technologies and projections by Bloomberg for how the cost of wind and solar power will fall in the future.

Five ways to power the UK without Hinkley The think-tank E3G came up with five ways to power the UK that are far better than HPC. These were Energy efficiency; wind turbines; solar; interconnectors; storage and flexibility.

 By 2030 six Hinkleys’ worth of electricity could have been cut from the national demand, according to a McKinsey report for the government.

Onshore wind power is much cheaper than the heavily subsidised price Hinkley is guaranteed for over 35 years. The costs of offshore wind are also falling and likely to be below Hinkley well before 2030.

Electricity from solar power is now also cheaper than Hinkley.

Another third of a Hinkley has been added to the UK grid since 2010 by new cables to other European countries, where electricity is currently cheaper. New interconnectors to Norway, Denmark and France could be laid by 2025, adding another two or three Hinkleys to the grid, according to a report for the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) in February.

Four Hinkleys’ worth of electricity could be saved by 2030 by increasing the ability to store electricity, in large batteries for example, and making the grid smarter. This would also save bill payers £8bn a year.

The Baseload Myth……

Green Hedge Now Green Hedge, a leading developer and operator of low carbon electricity generation and storage projects, is questioning whether it is possible to replicate the electricity generation of Hinkley Point C with a cheaper, equally low carbon combination of a) onshore wind and solar, b) energy storage and c) backup gas generation at costs that would allow their deployment today. Their analysis shows that it is indeed possible to get new reliable generation with a low carbon footprint at a substantially lower cost to consumers and deployed now rather than in the mid-2020s.

Hinkley Point C requires a price guarantee from the UK government for 35 years at £100.68/MWh in today’s money (£92.50/MWh in 2012 money). At the same time, the wholesale price for electricity is currently below £35/MWh. The Green Hedge analysis shows it is possible replicate the electricity generation of Hinkley Point C at a price of only £75/MWh, saving Britain’s consumers £720 million per year (or £25 billion in today’s money over the 35 year contract term).

Transforming weather-dependent solar and wind into a stable generator is possible because the weather variations between wind turbines and solar panels largely cancel each other out. Any remaining variation is managed with energy storage (charging batteries when generation exceeds demand and vice versa) and with backup natural gas generators. Gas generators are the only technology emitting carbon dioxide, but as they are rarely used, the average carbon intensity is still 80 per cent lower than today’s average of electricity from the grid. At a carbon intensity of only 100gCO2/kWh our “renewable Hinkley Point” would meet the UK’s 2030 target already today……….

Nuclear power plays no role in high renewables scenarios: it is too inflexible. Instead, as Elliott’s new book shows, based on a range of national and global scenarios, given proper attention to balancing, flexible system development and energy saving and the use of multiple sources, renewables can supply the bulk of the energy needed in the years ahead on a reliable basis, and possibly all of it.

Get it from the Sun Inspired by Keith Barnham, the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) has launched a new initiative to encourage local authorities to continue the impressive and rapid deployment of renewable energy projects across the UK and Ireland in the face of subsidy cuts.

Get it from the Sun (GIFTS) is a new initiative put forward by Professor Keith Barnham that aims to provide information and encourage cooperation among local authorities, town councils, charities, community energy groups, environmental NGOs and individuals working towards allrenewable electricity supplies at the local level, in spite of the extensive subsidy cuts to renewable energy by the UK Government. Renewable electricity is the quickest way to achieve the carbon reductions the government agreed at COP21. In the NFLA’s view, such local initiatives can overcome government opposition.

The GIFTS initiative outlines the rapid deployment of renewable energy over the past decade, and shows that, had cuts to subsidies not been implemented, an all-renewables energy system would have been created years before new nuclear could have had any positive effect.

Despite the cuts, the GIFTS initiative also provides 6 ways to keep momentum towards deploying renewable energy solutions, centred on local authorities and community energy cooperatives. ………http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/nuclearnews/NuClearNewsNo85.pdf