Guardian: “The US government has kept a tight rein on exports since the shale gas boom started more than five years ago. But the deal struck by energy company Centrica marks the start of a new era in gas use in the UK, because it opens up the market to cheap supplies from the US, as North Sea gas fields run out and pipelines to Europe remain expensive.” Read more
Solarcentury
The company I founded in 1998 to design and supply solar energy solutions for the built environment. Solarcentury
Solar Aid
The charity I founded in 2006, with a 5% contribution of Solarcentury profits, to help deliver solar lighting to Africa. Solar Aid
EDF CEO ready to quit if he can’t get his way with Hinkley Point reactor..
May 6, 2013 Nuclear
Times: “The chief executive of EDF Energy will leave Britain if the French company’s £14 billion Hinkley Point reactor project collapses.” Read more
UK energy prices: most inflation is not due to green energy, but gas.
Guardian: “The simple answer is that green energy is not costing you nearly as much as you’ve been led to believe. Yes, energy bills have soared. A new government report analysing the cost of energy and climate-change policies on the cost of energy lays the blame squarely at the feet of global gas prices, followed by network costs.” Read more
EDF may let UK nuclear talks fail.
April 18, 2013 Nuclear
Bloomberg: “Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio said the French utility isn’t “in a hurry” to agree with the government the so-called strike price it will receive for power produced at the planned plant at Hinkley Point in southwest England. Read more
Centrica buys into Canadian fracked gas potential.
April 15, 2013 Gas
FT: “Centrica …..has agreed to buy a bundle of gas and oil assets in Canada for C$1bn alongside investment partner Qatar Petroleum.” Read more
EDF “in big trouble”, French nuclear expert tells BBC: owes €39 bn.
April 8, 2013 Nuclear
Telegraph: “Mycle Schneider, a former energy adviser to the French government, questioned whether EDF could finance the investment. “EDF is in big trouble. The whole of the nuclear power industry in France is in big trouble,” he said.” Read more
MPs and academics call for NAO to review UK nuclear negotiations.
April 6, 2013 Commentaries, Nuclear
Telegraph letter: “The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Treasury are negotiating with the French nuclear corporation EDF about the financing of possible new nuclear in the UK. Through these negotiations, the Government is aiming to guarantee a set price for nuclear energy – a ‘strike price’. This price will be well above the market price for electricity, meaning that UK taxpayer and energy consumer will be paying the difference. This contract will be locked in for very many decades – up to 40 years.” Read more
Centrica bosses splits £16m pay pot as bills soar.
March 27, 2013 Gas
Guardian: “Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw earned a basic salary of £950,000 in 2012, but bonuses pushed his take-home pay to almost £5m.” Read more
UK government now has 2030 as target for new nuclear.
March 26, 2013 Nuclear
Telegraph: “In a Nuclear Industrial Strategy report it said it now hoped the new reactors at five sites around the country would be developed “by 2030”. The Government also gave the first official confirmation that the costs of the first proposed new plant, at Hinkley Point in Somerset, have risen to as much as £14bn.” Read more
Centrica deal: 1.8m UK homes to be heated by US shale gas within 5 years.
EDF gets UK nuclear planning go ahead.
March 19, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: “Plans for the first new nuclear power station for nearly a generation in the UK have got the go-ahead from the energy secretary, who has said he is granting planning consent.” Read more
EDF drops civil lawsuit against activists in face of public pressure.
Guardian: “The energy company EDF has dropped a £5m civil lawsuit against a group of 21 activists who occupied one of its gas-fired power plants for a week in October 2012, in a move described by supporters of the demonstrators as a “humiliating climbdown”.” Read more
RWE boss warns UK government against nuclear subsidies (for EDF).
February 20, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian:”RWE npower, one of the big six power suppliers, has warned ministers not to seal a long-term subsidy deal with the nuclear industry behind the backs of consumers and saddle them with “unnecessarily high bills” for the next 40 years.” Read more
EDF sues anti-gas campaigners for £5m, assisted by UK police.
Guardian: “EDF is seeking more than £5m in damages from a group of more than 20 activists who occupied one of its power stations for a week last year, in an action campaigners claim could stifle the right to protest across the country.” Read more
E.ON lobbied for long sentences for climate protestors, or else.
Guardian: “The UK chief executive of energy giant E.ON repeatedly lobbied the then-energy secretary Ed Miliband and others over the sentencing of activists disrupting the company’s power plants, warning that any failure to issue “dissuasive” sentences could “impact” upon investment decisions in the UK.” Read more
EDF confirms it is pressuring UK ministers for 40 year subsidies.
February 19, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: “The French-owned company is in talks with ministers over “contracts for difference” funding, under which the government guarantees generators will be paid a minimum price for electricity from new nuclear plants: if the market price falls lower than this “strike price” then a surcharge will be added to customers’ bills; if it rises higher there would be a refund.” Read more
EDF asks for UK government funding for new nuclear.
February 11, 2013 Nuclear
FT: “The French company’s planned multibillion-pound nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, Somerset, was one of the UK’s “top five” infrastructure projects, and as such could be eligible for a state-backed guarantee, a person familiar with the matter said.” Read more
Centrica pulls out of UK nuclear, writing off £200m.
February 4, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: The company blames rising costs and construction delays. “Centrica will forfeit its 20% option on four new nuclear plants planned by EDF in Somerset and Suffolk, writing down £200m in the process.” Read more
Spiralling nuclear costs at EDF threaten dividend.
January 22, 2013 Nuclear
Business Week: “Electricite de France SA’s near record dividend is at risk for the first time in four years as costs spiral at the world’s biggest atomic-power producer.” Read more
EDF breaks pledge to make Hinkley investment decision in 2012.
December 7, 2012 Nuclear
Guardian: “The new reactors at Hinkley were to be the first of a new generation of atomic plants in the UK and EDF had repeatedly pledged to make a final investment decision by the end of 2012. But the decision to plough billions of pounds into the project is now unlikely to be taken before April 2013, according to sources close to the project, although EDF declined to comment.” Read more
Le Monde publishes graph of French new nuclear costs and delays.
December 5, 2012 Nuclear
Le Monde: The estimated cost soars from €3.3bn in 2007 to €8.5bn in 2012. The estimated time to build from 5 years in 2007 to 9 years in 2012.
“Last 24 hours have ‘killed’ French nuclear”: UBS analyst.
December 4, 2012 Nuclear
Reuters: “French power group EDF received a new blow on Tuesday when Italy’s biggest utility Enel announced its has pulled out from a project to build a next-generation nuclear reactor in northern France.” Read more
‘Independent’ Green Deal regulator is owned by the Big 6 energy firms.
ClickGreen: “The so-called independent regulator of the Green Deal programme is actually controlled and owned by the ‘Big 6′ energy companies, ClickGreen can reveal. Gemserv is being paid £5.8 million of taxpayers’ money to administer the registration scheme, which will help households increase energy efficiency and cut down on their utility bills. But a clear conflict of interest has become apparent after it was found the largest shareholders in Gemserv are actually the energy companies themselves – British Gas, Scottish & Southern, ScottishPower, nPower, E.ON and EDF.” Read more
The UK energy bill is a (losing) “£200bn bet on our energy future.”
Damian Carrington in the Guardian: “There is a simple way to think about the complex energy policy decisions made today: it is a £200bn bet on the UK’s energy future. What’s more, the money on the table belongs to you. Win or lose, every electricity and gas customer will pick up the tab for this wager for decades to come.” Read more