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2010 - An Energy Policy at Last?

There are still few signs that the Government has an energy policy.

Horizon Nuclear Power announced yesterday that a new nuclear power station will be built at Wylfa, on Anglesey, where an existing station is to be closed later this year. Horizon is a joint venture between EOn and RWE, both German companies. They also plan another plant at Oldbury in Gloucestershire. EDF is planning stations at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk.

The new nuclear stations are needed to fill the energy 'gap' caused by the refusal of Government to put together a coherent energy policy over the last 15 years. Now, although politicians have spent staggering amounts of money on renewables, inflating our energy bills in the process, power cuts loom.

It is difficult to overstate the effect this will have on our electronic society. It won't just be electricity supplies. Your central heating will switch off. Think about it. Freeze-ups, plumbing bursts..... enormous bills sorting out the damage. Hassle.

Is your cooker dependent on a mains electricity supply? If so, you will probably be eating cold food until the power comes back on. Your freezer will defrost. The fridge won't work.

Will the tills at the supermarket, or the Co-Op, be working? If not, expect trouble there, too.

This sorry state of affairs is a consequence of allowing our nuclear industry to disappear, investing far too heavily in energy schemes which cannot deliver the energy we need, and agreeing to the closure, by the EU, of many of our perfectly serviceable and reliable coal-fired power stations .

There will be further waits and delays. Horizon plans to have its first station up and running in 2020, but the decisions to go ahead will be made in three years time. EDF and Horizon want to be sure that they will be able to sell the power they generate at the right price to give a return on their investment.

Under existing rules, electricity providers have to buy a minimum amount of their energy from renewable energy providers.

Without this, the development of wind power, several times the price of nuclear, would not have been feasible, and Clean Coal (Carbon Capture) would have been abandoned years ago.

Yet we are still being compelled, by taxation, to subsidise these technologies.

One obvious question is "Why are we not subsidising nuclear? "

The country needs:

  • An energy policy based on needs, not targets
  • A secure energy supply
  • Energy at an affordable price
  • Diversity of supply

    At the present time, these needs are not being addressed.

    We still don't have a Department of Energy; it's "Energy and Climate Change", and on the evidence available it seems to be more interested in taxing carbon emissions than producing energy.

    It is as if those responsible for making the decisions do not want us to have a secure electricity supply.

    N.D., habitat21.

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