UK's flagship nuclear plant could cost up to $59 billion, developer says
UK's flagship nuclear plant could cost up to $59 billion, developer says
A major nuclear plant that Britain’s government hopes will generate affordable, low-carbon energy could cost up to 46 billion pounds, or $59 billion, and the completion date could be delayed to after 2029.
Weird how anything that can possibly reduce fossil fuel usage is always too expensive, yet building pipelines, and north sea oil platforms, and shipping oil all over the world is free or the cost is not worth talking about.
Weird how anything that can possibly reduce fossil fuel usage is always too expensive
That's not true. Wind and solar are often cheaper than fossil fuels and the prices are still going down.
You could install solar panels on five million homes for that amount of money.
The UK doesn't have great solar energy potential because of the high latitude and general lack of sun. Wind is much more practical in this country however like solar it provides it's a non-stable energy source. To have a stable energy grid you ideally want a mix of stable and non-stable sources or non-stable sources and large battery storage facilities.
But that would solve something. And that's not wanted.
So instead we will lament ballooning costs and build times for nuclear and invent narratives how that's totally not caused by nuclear being a shitty alternative to renewables and storage.
This way we can spend another few decades on building a none-solution while just accidently also having sunk so much money already that changing to an actual solution doesn't make sense anymore.
Oh, sorry. Were we expected to stop burning fossil fuels? Doesn't seem to work for some reason, but don't worry. Building nuclear will totally solve this. Any decade now... (And no, we totally did not build to little anyway, just to make sure it will never solve anything even if the unimaginable happens and build times and costs become manageable...)
EDF, the French developer responsible for the project, is demanding more money from the UK in order to fulfill the contract.
Owned by the French state toboot.
Ok. Get to work.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The U.K. government says nuclear projects like the Hinkley Point C plant are a key part of its plans to ensure greater energy independence and achieve its “net zero” by 2050 strategy.
Officials had previously said that the Hinkley plant would start producing electricity in 2027, but the completion date has now been pushed back to 2029 at the earliest.
“Like other infrastructure projects, we have found civil construction slower than we hoped and faced inflation, labor and material shortages — on top of Covid and Brexit disruption,” said Stuart Crooks, managing director of Hinkley Point C.
The Conservative government is investing heavily in nuclear power, with ambitions to generate up to a quarter of the country’s projected electricity demand by 2050.
Critics, including the U.K. government’s own climate advisers, say the U.K.'s support for new domestic oil and gas production and its slow pace in transitioning to green energy were undermining its “net zero” pledges.
Authorities have promised to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030, eventually reaching net-zero — or releasing only as much greenhouse gas as can be absorbed again through natural or technological means — by 2050.
The original article contains 374 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 49%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Will anglo countries ever learn anything from other countries that can build things at reasonable prices? I'm guessing no.