Renew Extra Weekly

There has of late been something of a global nuclear PR push, but it's perhaps been oddly timed in that  not everything has been going its own way. The USA’s flagship NuScale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) has taken a dive. It was seen as the pioneer for cheap fast-build mini-reactors, a scaled down but otherwise conventional pressurised water reactor. But, despite some speculative funding, it was looking increasingly dodgy financially, with lawyers circling like vultures . And then the big Idaho Falls NuScale project was cancelled. WIRED said this had been on the cards since ‘the utilities backing the plant were spooked by a 50% increase in the projected costs’. That was not seen as good news for other SMRs further back in development. Some see it all as a bit of a dangerous gamble .  Maybe not the right time then for the UK to launch what amounted to a promotional report ‘ Made in Britain : The Pathway to a Nuclear Renaissance’. Produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)

After a review of the evidence, including the impact of global events on supply chains, the government has raised the maximum price offshore wind projects can receive in the next UK Contracts for Difference (CfD) next year. Infamously, in the last round in September, with gas prices and materials costs rising, the price cap was set too low for offshore wind and there were no bids for projects – which came as a big shock since it had been doing very well.  Some predicted the ‘end of wind power as we know it’, and it certainly was worrying, with some plans for new projects being halted.  However, on reflection, what was arguably more worrying was that the government had been warned about this problem, but had done little about it. Thankfully, now it has. So for the next round, the maximum strike price has been increased by 66% for offshore wind projects, from £44/MWh to £73/MWh, and by 52% for floating offshore wind projects, from £116/MWh to £176/MWh, also for Allocation Round 6 (AR6).

Hydrogen is the most common molecule in the Universe, and on earth we have a lot of water, as well as hydrocarbon fossil deposits, from which hydrogen can be extracted. There are even a few geological sources of natural hydrogen around the world .  Since it produces mainly just water when it’s burnt, some look to a future hydrogen-based society, with hydrogen acting as a key clean energy vector. It’s a lively field for research and discussion, with a quite wide range of options being on the table and much debate about choices as to which should be followed up and the way ahead.      An Open University webinar last November, part of its Green Infrastructure week, looked at ‘what would it take for hydrogen to have a place in the UK’s net zero energy future?’ It was hosted by Dr Victoria Hands, OU Sustainability Director, with a panel of OU experts led by Dr William J. Nuttall, OU Professor of Energy. He argued that, though green power electrification was very important, we would not ha