The UK Department of Energy and Climate (DECC) latest energy statistics report released today states that electricity generation from renewables rose by a derisory 0.1 per cent in 2010, despite a 15 per cent increase in installed capacity. According to the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, also known as DUKES, electricity generated from renewable … Continue reading
Reuters has just released a report into why the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility was the world’s fifth most dangerous nuclear plant by workplace radition. Number one is Perry, Ohio in the USA; number two Cofrentes in Spain; number three is Tarapur in India; and number four Laguna Verde in Mexico. All five plants use General Electric boiling water … Continue reading
EDF has once again delayed the start-up date for its under-construction Flamanville 3 (FA3) nuclear plant from 2014 to 2016, while raising the cost estimate to €6 billion ($8.5 billion) from €5 billion. This is the third time that EDF has put back the commissioning date for FA3. Originally conceived as a five-year, €3.3 billion … Continue reading
Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg is to merge his power plant assets into the power generation holding of Gazprom, thus creating a state-owned national champion that will dominate Russia’s power market. The merger between Vekselberg’s IES Holding and Gazprom Energoholding (GEH) will create Russia’s largest power company by far, with a total capacity of 52 GW, … Continue reading
Nuclear power in the UK needs a power price of between £150-£200/MWh ($241-$321) – up to four times more than current spot prices – to be viable for private equity investors, according to Citigroup’s head of utilities research. Peter Atherton is quoted in a Reuters article as saying that if the UK government wants nuclear plants built, … Continue reading
The average EU Allowance (EUA) price in Phase III of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) will be €22/tonne ($32), according to Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. The €22/tonne figure is €8/tonne less than its October 2010 forecast, “mainly due to the earlier and greater deployment of renewable energy than previously assumed”, said Anne Kat … Continue reading
The UK’s ‘Big Six’ is set to become the ‘Big Five’ as RWE hires Goldman Sachs to conduct a strategic review of npower, its UK power generation and supply business, after voicing its “dissatisfaction” with British energy policy. According to the Sunday Times, Spanish utility group Iberdrola, which owns another of the ‘Big Six’, Scottish … Continue reading