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Covid-19 causes more delays and costs for Hinkley Point C nuclear projects

New Civil Engineer 23rd March 2021, The cost of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station has risen by around £500M and its start date pushed back to June 2026 due to delays arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. In January, EDF said it expected the Somerset project to cost up to £23bn compared with a 2019 estimate of a £22.5bn maximum.

The start of electricity generation from Unit One of the power station had been scheduled for the end of 2025, but work postponed last year at the height of the first lockdown has not yet been completed. In a message to employees, Hinkley Point C managing director Stuart Crooks said: “Ten months after it began, we are still facing the full force of the
pandemic. “Even though experience has allowed us to increase numbers on site during the pandemic from below 2,000 to more than 5,000, social distancing requirements still limit the number of people we can safely have
on site at any one time.” Crooks added that “a longer construction period also adds some cost — as does the reduced efficiency of operating a site for a long period under Covid-19 conditions”.
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hs2-and-hinkley-to-crossrail-and-tideway-tracking-covids-impact-on-uks-biggest-infrastructure-projects-23-03-2021/

March 25, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

France’s nuclear reactors in state of disrepair, reducing electricity output

World Nuclear Industry Status Report 21st March 2021, Will France ever run out of electricity? Hardly believable in the homeland of nuclear power! By the admission of EDF officials, France is no longer immune to power cuts on very cold days. Here’s why. on January 8, RTE , the subsidiary of EDF in charge of balancing electricity supply and demand, invited households to reduce their consumption in order to avoid a bad surprise.

The production capacities, ie 88,200 megawatts, were indeed just sufficient to cover the needs (88,000 megawatts). The day went off without a hitch, but ” the winter of 2020-2021 remains under special vigilance, mainly because of the health crisis,” RTE made a point of clarifying . If the weather conditions turn out to be normal, then no difficulty will be
expected with the electricity supply. On the other hand, in the event of a cold snap, difficulties could arise ”.

An elegant way to ask us to prepare the candles … Name of a pylon, but how did it come to this, in a country supposedly king of nuclear energy ? The first reason is precisely the state of disrepair of our atomic park. In the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report for 2020, written by a group of internationalbexperts led by Mycle Schneider, the chapter devoted to France is particularly harsh for our national electricity supplier.

It reveals that the number of days of unavailability of its 58 reactors exploded in 2019, reaching 96.2 on average. This represents more than three months of closure each year for each of our plants. ! Suddenly, the load factor of the tricolor nuclear fleet (in other words its real production compared to its capacities) does not exceed 68.1%, an extremely low figure. By way of comparison, other nuclear countries, such as the United States, show
performances close to 90%.

https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/La-France-va-t-elle-manquer-un-jour-d-electricite.html

March 25, 2021 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Ohio Senate votes to remove nuclear power subsidies

Ohio Senate eliminates nuclear subsidies from House Bill 6 Jessie Balmert, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/24/ohio-senate-vote-axing-nuclear-subsidies-house-bill-6/6971129002/Cincinnati Enquirer   COLUMBUS – Lawmakers once touted $1 billion in ratepayer-financed subsidies as essential to saving nuclear plant jobs in northern Ohio. Now, they are ready to repeal those fees. 

Ohio Senate unanimously passed House Bill 128, which would eliminate fees for nuclear plants on Ohioans’ electric bills, ax another fee on FirstEnergy customers’ bills and eliminate another benefit for the Akron-based company.

The legislation, which will soon head to Gov. Mike DeWine, comes two years after Ohio lawmakers passed House Bill 6, saying it was needed to save jobs at the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants in northern Ohio.


Nuclear fees in House Bill 6 made headlines last July when former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others were arrested in connection to a nearly $61 million bribery scheme to pass the law and defend the legislation against a ballot effort to block it. 

The scandal is one reason why lawmakers wanted to start over on portions of House Bill 6.

“When the story broke about the scandal and what was happening behind the scenes, I along with every member of this General Assembly was angry, disgusted and disappointed in what we were hearing,” said Rep. Jim Hoops, R-Napoleon. “We did not vote for what was happening behind the scenes and in a room somewhere outside the Statehouse.”

But the scandal was not the only reason. The energy landscape has changed since the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature approved $1 billion in fees on Ohioans’ electric bills for nuclear plants now owned by Energy Harbor. 

A late 2019 change from federal utility regulators effectively penalizes companies that receive state subsidies when they sell their power at regional capacity auctions. That means Energy Harbor sees relinquishing the House Bill 6 subsidies as a competitive advantage. 

Those in nuclear power are also banking on Democratic President Joe Biden’s policies hurting their competitors: natural gas. Biden stopped the Keystone XL pipeline and blocked new fracking on federal land. 

The Ohio Senate passed similar changes in two separate bills, but House Bill 128 was selected as the piece of legislation to hit DeWine’s desk. The bill also includes a review of whether transmission projects – under-scrutinized fees on ratepayers’ bills – are cost-effective. 

House Bill 128 keeps $20 million each year for solar projects. The changes would drop the monthly fee from 85 cents to 10 cents for residential customers and from $2,400 to $242 for industrial customers. Fees already charged on some customers’ bills would be refunded. 

The legislation doesn’t change cuts to energy efficiency incentives, fees for two coal plants owned by Piketon-based Ohio Valley Electric Corporation or eliminated mandates to incorporate renewable energy into the mix. Those topics could be addressed later.  Sen. Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland, said she would continue to advocate for a full repeal. 

The House must approve some technical changes before the bill hits DeWine’s desk. 

March 25, 2021 Posted by | politics international, USA | Leave a comment

German government settles disputes with nuclear plant operators

German govt decides amended nuclear law, settles disputes with plant operators,  https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/german-govt-decides-amended-nuclear-law-settles-disputes-plant-operatorsClean Energy Wire 24 Mar 21,

Germany’s government cabinet today approved an amendment to the Nuclear Energy Act which provides for financial compensation to nuclear power plant operators due to the country’s phase-out decision of 2011. Plant operators will be compensated with a total of 2.4 billion euros for the amount of electricity they couldn’t sell and devalued investments, government ministries had announced earlier this month.

An amendment of the existing compensation rules was necessary after Germany’s highest court ruled in November 2020 that the compensation clauses in the nuclear exit law are unconstitutional. While the ruling left the general nuclear phase-out decision and timetable untouched, it forced the government to revisit the law again. Now the government also announced that it had agreed with energy companies EnBW, E.ON/PreussenElektra, RWE and Vattenfall to set the actual amounts of compensation and in return have the companies settle all related legal disputes.

Environment minister Svenja Schulze, whose ministry drafted the amendment said in a press release: “It is good that we are now finally drawing a line under the protracted legal disputes. This is happening at a price that is significantly lower than the energy suppliers’ original demands.”

Germany will pay compensation totalling about 2.428 billion euros. Vattenfall will receive 1.425 billion euros, RWE 880 million euros, EnBW 80 million euros and E.ON/PreussenElektra 42.5 million euros. The compensation is granted primarily for electricity volumes that cannot be used in the group’s own nuclear power plants (RWE and Vattenfall) – a total of about 2.3 billion euros – and for devalued investments in the lifetime extension withdrawn by the German Bundestag (EnBW, E.ON/PreussenElektra and RWE).

Germany’s accelerated nuclear exit was passed by a large majority in parliament in 2011. The last nuclear reactor will go offline at the end of 2022.

Minister Svenja Schulze said that, with the accelerated nuclear phase-out, Germany has created “predictability and reliability on the energy market and cleared the way for electricity from wind and sun”. Johannes Teyssen, CEO of German energy company E.ON, told business daily Handelsblatt that days of nuclear energy are numbered, as no business-oriented company will invest in it. “If nuclear power plants are still being built anywhere, it will be by state-owned companies or with massive state support,” he said, and added it is “too expensive, too risky and too politically explosive”. Teyssen also said he was sceptical of plans for small nuclear power units.NEWS

March 25, 2021 Posted by | business and costs, Germany, politics | Leave a comment

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