PROFILE
AS DISPUTES AND delays left Hinkley Point C floundering , many observers wondered what the nuclear project could bring to Britain ’ s energy mix that renewable alternatives could not .
The Crown Estate recently highlighted the fact that offshore wind farms can already be constructed at cheaper rates than Hinkley ’ s proposed reactors , and when the government gave the project the green light last month , some detractors deemed it ‘ white elephant ’. However , in the period between 2010 and 2030 , two-thirds of the UK ’ s centrally-dispatchable generation capacity will have reached retirement-age — and it ’ s crucial that the country adopts equally flexible and available replacements .
One piece of the puzzle Proponents of nuclear power argue that without the addition of new nuclear generating facilities , it will be difficult to assure the UK ’ s energy security and ensure that carbon emissions targets are met . In order to achieve these aims , it is crucial that the country utilises a mix of renewable energy and nuclear power .
“ There will still be times at which there will not be enough resource either from the sun or the wind ,” says Tom Greatrex , the Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association ( NIA ) who served as Shadow Energy Minister from 2011 to 2015 . “ Even after you ’ ve taken account of whatever storage capacity you can get , we will need power from other sources . It ’ s much better to have that in a low-carbon way .”
At present , the UK has 15 nuclear reactors generating around 21 percent of its total electricity , though half of this capacity will be retired by 2025 . The government is striving to have 16GW of new nuclear capacity operating by 2030 , with three new nuclear plants , including Hinkley , in various stages of planning .
Unlike France — which derives three quarters of its power from nuclear sources — the UK is not striving to generate a majority of electricity using nuclear reactors . Greatrex warns against viewing any single generation method as a “ silver bullet ” to solve the problem of potential electricity shortages . Nuclear and renewables must come to see each other as contributors
8 October 2016