Binnen tien jaar Britse kolencentrales dicht; meer kernenergie en gas

19 november 2015 – Gisteren heeft de Britse minister Amber Rudd bekend gemaakt dat binnen tien jaar alle kolencentrales in Groot-Brittanië zullen worden gesloten. eenderde van het Britse stroomverbruik wordt nu nog in kolencentrales opgewekt.

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Minister Amber Rudd (Energie en klimaat): A new direction for UK energy policy

Naast zonne- en windenergie (‘niet tegen elke prijs’) zal de opwekcapaciteit vooral worden vervangen door gas en kernenergie (‘Gas is central to our energy secure future. So is nuclear.’). Er komt een stop op nieuwe subsidies voor offshore wind. Rudd kondigde ook een verdere privatisering van de energiesector aan.

Uit een bericht van de BBC
‘(…) Ms Rudd wants more gas-fired stations to be built since relying on “polluting” coal is “perverse”. Only if gas-fuelled power can fill the void created by closing coal-powered stations would coal plants be shut, she said. Environmentalists are concerned little is being done to promote renewables. Announcing the consultation, Ms Rudd said: “Frankly, it cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon-intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations. “Let me be clear: this is not the future. “We need to build a new energy infrastructure, fit for the 21st century.” (…) “We are tackling a legacy of underinvestment and ageing power stations which we need to replace with alternatives that are reliable, good value for money and help to reduce emissions.”(…)’

Uit een bericht van The Guardian
‘(…) The announcement came in a speech by the energy secretary, Amber Rudd, which she described as a “reset” of Britain’s energy policy on Wednesday. Rudd said she wanted policy to focus on making energy affordable and secure. The government wanted a “consumer-led, competition-focused energy system that has energy security at the heart of it”, she said, adding that the balance had swung too far in favour of climate change policies at the expense of keeping energy affordable. (…)’

Uit de toespraak van Amber Rudd
‘(…) Perversely, even with the huge growth in renewables, our dependence on coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, hasn’t been reduced. Indeed a higher proportion of our electricity came from coal in 2014 than in 1999. (…) Gas is central to our energy secure future. So is nuclear. Opponents of nuclear misread the science. It is safe and reliable. (…) In the 13 years of the last Labour government not a single new nuclear power station was commissioned. We are dealing with a legacy of under-investment and with Hinkley Point C planning to start generating in the mid 2020s that is already changing. It is imperative we do not make the mistakes of the past and just build one nuclear power station. There are plans for a new fleet of nuclear power stations, including at Wylfa and Moorside. This could provide up to 30% of the low carbon electricity which we’re likely to need through the 2030s and create 30,000 new jobs. This will provide low carbon electricity at the scale we need. Climate change is a big problem, it needs big technologies. (…) We should also support the growth of our world leading offshore wind industry.(…) But it is still too expensive. So our approach will be different – we will not support offshore wind at any cost. (…) We have enough onshore wind in the pipeline to meet our 2020 expectations. That is why we set out in our manifesto that we would end any new public subsidy for onshore wind farms. (…)

Video toespraak Amber Rudd (1’43”, bron: Belfast Telegraph)
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Bronnen
BBC, 18 november 2015: UK’s coal plants to be phased out within 10 years
The Guardian, 18 november 2015: UK to close all coal power plants in switch to gas and nuclear
Gov.UK, 18 november 2015, volledige tekst toespraak: Amber Rudd’s speech on a new direction for UK energy policy
Video: Belast Telegraph, 18 november 2015: Energy Secretary Amber Rudd – Coal plants to be phased out within 10 years
Foto: Drax, de grootste steenkoolcentrale van Engeland. (Foto: Drax Group)

Zie ook
FluxEnergie, 19 november 2015: Verdeelde reacties op het Britse energieplan

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Auteur: Redactie

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