New nuclear power stations may not be needed for Britain to hit targets for net zero because there are cheaper, low-carbon alternatives that could back up intermittent renewable power, the head of a leading think tank has claimed.
Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, chairman of the Energy Transitions Commission, said that while it was important to keep existing nuclear power stations running for as long as possible, hydrogen fuel or gas power stations that had been fitted with carbon capture and storage technology could fill the gap when wind or solar generation was not enough to keep the lights on.
“I don’t think it is the case that you need new nuclear to balance the system. The systems of the future don’t absolutely need a base load,” he said.
“Base load” power sources are intended to supply the minimum amount of electricity that the grid demands. Nuclear plants serve the base load partly because they cannot easily be switched on and off.
Turner, the former head of the Financial Services Authority and a former director-general of the CBI, said future power sources “can work on a combination of intermittent variable renewables, wind and solar plus some hydro.
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“I think in the long term we will have zero-carbon power coming either from gas plus carbon capture and storage or from burning hydrogen in the gas turbines that we already have or will develop”.
Hinkley Point C is the only new nuclear power station under construction in Britain, but the 3.2-gigawatt plant’s budget has swollen to as much as £35 billion, up to £17 billion higher than cost projections when the project was approved in 2016. It is six years behind schedule, potentially not coming on line until 2031.
“I think the challenge for new nuclear is that it is just expensive. Bluntly, new nuclear can play very little role in a 2030 target,” Turner said, referring to the new government’s target to decarbonise the energy system by the end of the decade.
The Energy Transitions Commission includes representatives from Shell and BP, the oil majors, as well from as Iberdrola, the owner of ScottishPower, and National Grid.
Nuclear power may be “nice to have” in helping to diversify Britain’s energy system, if the cost of construction could be brought down, Turner said.
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Labour has said that it aims to get Hinkley Point C “over the line” and that Sizewell C and mini-nuclear power stations “will play an important role” in Britain’s energy security. A final investment decision is yet to be made on Sizewell C, which also is being developed by EDF and is co-owned by the government.
