Tharg – Britain is only coal-free at the moment because we’re not using as much electricity as usual at the moment. The unusually sunny, breezy Spring increased the percentage of Solar and Wind Energy production to the point that the National Grid had to pay Solar and Wind generator companies £500 million to close down! When demand decreases, coal-powered stations are the first to be taken offline. Once things ‘get back to normal’ they have to be (literally) fired up again.
Nuclear power isn’t a real ‘solution’ either:
Britain was a World Leader in Nuclear Power but decades of political neglect has left us without the expertise to built new. The last of the Old Guard, most of whom are either nearing retirement or have returned to work from retirement, are all busy decommissioning Dounreay. Britain now has to depend on China for new Nuclear Power Technology – which is ironic because China are focusing a lot of their R&D (US$3.3 billion) on far safer Thorium Reactors.
Meanwhile:
Hitachi have pulled out of funding the Wylfa Newydd power plant and the Oldbury power plant;
Toshiba have pulled out of funding Moorside, but IF (and it’s a big IF – <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>IF</span> – Rolls Royce take it on it won’t be online until 2035 at the earliest;
The Hinkley Point C reactor (which had a rather dirty but non-nuclear mishap yesterday) is being built on a potential FLOOD ZONE (yes, I do believe in Climate Change)- and won’t be online until 2025 at the earliest;
As on the 2nd June 2020 Sizewell C funding (EDF) has been put into doubt because EDF now want the British Government to cough up – either through directly charging Users more for the resultant electricity, or through spending Tax Payers money to buy Equity in the development. The British Government are yet to respond to that ‘request’;
Bradwell B is still in the planning stage.