Prof. Mark Barrett at University College London has produced an update of his Green Light UK 2050 scenario, with a few additions from the 2023 version. The conclusions remain the same: renewables can supply just about all power needed. But some of the new details are interesting: aviation can’t be decarbonised easily, so we have to compensate with atmospheric carbon removal- Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS). In 2050, his scenario has offshore wind generating 931 TWh, which is 83% of total generation. Solar generates 118 TWh and onshore wind 40 TWh. Nuclear generates 25 TWh or 2% of total and there is 57 GW of flexible generation plant which outputs 3 TWh, operating at a capacity factor of under 1%. He says that ‘an alternative assumption that flexible generation uses stored hydrogen is also modelled but optimisation shows this to increase costs’. He notes that ‘in the least cost 2050 systems 20-30% of potential generation is spilled, and this is, at first sight, a s...
The UK government has decided that the huge new 3.2 GW Sizewell C nuclear plant proposed by EDF for the Suffolk coast should go ahead . It will be costly- the estimated construction cost is now put at £38 billion, up from an earlier estimate of £20bn. The UK government will be the largest shareholder, with a 44.9% stake, while EDF’s share has fallen to 12.5%. Centrica will take a 15% share, while La Caisse, a Canadian investment group, will hold 20% and investment manager Amber will take an initial 7.6% stake. UK power consumers will start paying a share of the construction costs under the ‘RAB’ Regulated Asset Base funding system as soon as building starts- presumably later this year. They and taxpayers may also end up facing any cost overruns due to delays. As the BBC noted ‘The project will be funded with a mixture of equity and debt - £8.8bn in equity from the government and the other investors, and £36.6bn in debt that will be provided by the National Wealth Fund (NWF)...