12 Sep (NucNet): The UK needs new nuclear generating capacity to replace its ageing fleet, to provide stable supplies of low-carbon electricity for decades to come and to reduce the country’s reliance on imported energy, members of EDF Energy’s stakeholder advisory panel have said in a letter published in the Financial Times. The panel, whose members include former Confederation of British Industries director-general Sir Richard Lambert and former European commissioner Lord Patten of Barnes, said wind and solar have a crucial part to play in the UK’s energy future, but are by their nature intermittent sources of power. The panel said no one knows how long it will take for new technologies – such as advanced forms of battery storage or small modular nuclear reactors – to contribute to the energy mix at an affordable price. The panel said that when it comes to value for money, “we do not know what the price of electricity will be in 30 years”. But the panel said it believes today’s depressed wholesale prices are not a basis for comparison, and that the deal that has been struck for Hinkley Point C is competitive with other future energy options when the price of carbon is properly costed. The panel said EDF, of which EDF Energy is the UK subsidiary, has been working closely with its Chinese partners in Hinkley Point for many years. “Together, they are close to the successful completion of two reactors in Taishan. We are confident that the regulatory regime in the UK will provide rigorous oversight of all nuclear operators, wherever they come from.” The plan to build two EPR units at Hinkley Point was hit with an unexpected delay in July 2016 when the incoming British prime minister Theresa May decided to hold a review of the project only hours after EDF – the project’s state-owned French developer – had given it the go-ahead. Reports have hinted at tensions between London and Beijing over the delay. The EDF Energy panel said in its letter that the UK government is expected to conclude its review of the project “in the next few weeks”.
