Let’s build a distributive energy system that works for everyone

We can’t afford to keep supporting slow and expensive nuclear technology when there are better, quicker and cheaper alternatives that will ultimately benefit consumers.

Time and time again, we have seen that nuclear power can’t be built on schedule or on budget. ­Hinkley Point C is now predicted to cost £22.5 billion – £2.9 billion more than expected – and won’t begin generating power until 2025, seven years later than first planned. Despite this, EDF is reportedly seeking extra funding to complete its sister project, Sizewell C.

We can’t afford to keep making the same mistakes, supporting this slow and expensive technology, when there are better, quicker and cheaper alternatives. Renewable energy and distributed storage technologies such as batteries and electric vehicles are revolutionising the energy sector and paving the way to a net zero future.

There are some clear reasons why we need to shift away from nuclear.

1. Nuclear is expensive

Hinkley Point C is due to start producing energy in five years’ time, at a staggering cost of £92.50 per megawatt-hour (MWh), guaranteed for 35 years. Meanwhile, solar PV costs have plummeted 80 per cent since 2010 to £50-£60/MWh and offshore wind has exceeded expectations with prices as low as £39.65/MWh. Meanwhile, we continue to face an effective block on new onshore wind, despite the government’s own figures showing it can deliver power at much lower prices than we are committed to with Hinkley Point C.

Furthermore, under the regulated asset base funding model, Hinkley passes not just the cost but the risk to the customer.

Yet a year and a half after the government’s independent infrastructure advisers urged ministers to prioritise solar and wind due to the low cost opportunity, we are still looking at spending more on nuclear.

2. Nuclear isn’t resilient

If a large nuclear power plant goes offline, be it planned or unplanned, the loss of significant generation capacity puts the rest of the network under a huge amount of strain to keep the lights on.

Renewables, on the other hand, can build greater resilience into the system. They are able to operate in a widely distributed system, across local power networks. If a set of solar panels or even a large wind turbine experiences a fault, the network can quickly adapt to source that power from elsewhere.

In the meantime, technology such as anaerobic digestion can provide a reliable source of power that does not vary with the weather like wind and solar, and can be dialled up and down – unlike nuclear.

We will build resilience in the grid by making it more distributive. In order to help drive this positive change, the government must urgently shift its support from nuclear to renewables.

3. Nuclear is slow

Initial preparation for Hinkley Point C started in 2008, and the first concrete pour was in 2018. It is due to complete construction in 2025. That’s 17 years from start to finish. By comparison, Hornsea One, which can provide half the power of Hinkley Point C, started construction in 2018 and started feeding clean electricity into the grid just one year later. Or to consider a truly distributive alternative, within nine years 6.21GW of capacity was deployed under the feed-in tariff scheme – nearly twice that of Hinkley Point C.

4. Renewables open up the energy generation market

Traditionally, you needed a very large and very expensive power station to generate electricity. This has resulted in an economic model in which a small number of large companies dominate the energy generation market.

This is no longer the case. Renewable technologies, with far lower set-up costs and land requirements, create a far more democratic system. Land and homeowners and businesses can earn extra revenue by investing in small-scale solar or wind. By increasing the number of small generators across the UK, the large power stations are losing market dominance.

More stakeholders invested in the future of UK energy means greater market competition and increased pressure to improve factors such as price and sustainability, ultimately benefiting consumers.

Decarbonisation needs to happen, and fast. We have cheaper, more reliable, faster options available to us than nuclear power. Let’s build a distributive energy system that works for everyone.