Although the UK Government continues to insist Hinkley Point C is “not a Government project”, the stark reality is, of course, that it is: Kier Starmer can rehash old rhetoric ‘til the cows come home, but this project, the UK’s latest foray into nuclear power generation (from the nation that gave us the world’s first nuclear power facility) continues to hang around the government’s head like an albatross. And given Hinkley Point C is a creature of EDF (majority owned by the French Government) it isn’t even British… which might explain why the contractors are seemingly so indifferent to 30% cost overruns (the budget has soared to £46 Billion), not to mention a three year delay in projected completion. EDF might be building the plant, but it’s unlikely to wind up paying for any overruns…which very much is a UK Government function (look no further than budget handling on the Channel Tunnel project (www.gihub.org/connectivity-across-borders/case-studies/the-channel-tunnel/).
And, of course, it hardly matters at all that Hinkley Point C has actually been under active development since 2016 (when a certain David Cameron was Prime Minister): because the current Labour Administration has already made abundantly clear its ambition to deliver the biggest nuclear power expansion programme in seventy years (since, in fact, the first nuclear plant was opened at Calder Hall in 1956). Back then, in an apparent attempt to garner greater public affection, Calder Hall was re-branded Windscale, which is if anything a scarier name, but in the very same year as the rebranding (1957) the plant caught fire, resulting in the UK’s worst ever nuclear incident (and still one of the world’s worst …even allowing for Chernobyl). Indeed, between 1950 and 2000, there were no less than twenty one serious “incidents” at the site, in addition to prolonged periods when plutonium and irradiated uranium oxide particulates were randomly (and deliberately) discharged into the atmosphere. Cue another name change then (to Sellafield), but even that wasn’t enough to mask the problem, so the power plant was finally decommissioned in 2003.
You’d have thought there were some pretty obvious lessons to be learned from that sorry episode, but apparently not: Starmer’s Administration has also now committed itself to ensuring at least 25% of UK energy needs will be sourced from nuclear power before 2050, and that in turn is part of an increasingly threadbare policy programme designed to meet the challenges of global warming (www.labour.org.uk/change/make-britain-a-clean-energy-superpower/). But hang on a minute…
Haven’t we already got a nuclear power station up and running, albeit a million miles away from Hinkley Point C? And hasn’t that facility got an impeccable safety record, with no adverse incidents of any kind since it was first commissioned? Indeed, it’s been producing clean energy for donkey’s years now…converting hydrogen to helium at zero operating cost, and (as a bonus) perfectly situated to deliver virtually limitless power on demand, with little or no infrastructure costs. It sure beats the hell out of a £46 Billion mini plant nestling precariously on the Somerset coast.
So what’s this mega power station called?…Well I’m glad you asked me that…it’s called the Sun.
Solar energy can now be harnessed through a broad range of cutting edge technologies, including photovoltaic systems (“PV”), concentrated solar power, and solar water heating. As long ago as 2011, the International Energy Agency (“IEA”) concluded that “the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer term benefits. It will increase energy security through reliance on an indigenous and mostly independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, and lower the costs of mitigating global warming…these advantages are global” (www.iea.org/). Quite right. And perhaps more to the point, those same technology “developments” envisaged by the IEA fourteen years ago are now a practical reality….Not least in the UK.
Over the course of 2025 so far, the UK has completed more than 2GWp in new PV construction projects…that’s the highest like for like total in more than a decade, and the sector is still actively engaged in pushing the figure up to 3.7GWp before year end. 70% of current capacity is ground mounted, and the first Solar Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (at Cleve Hill Solar Park (www.clevehillsolar.com)) also commenced operations this year, delivering an additional 373MW of capacity, which highlights in turn a clear trend where Large Scale Solar (facilities producing in excess of 50MWp) is starting to dominate the domestic UK market: together those facilities made up some 70% of new online capacity this year.
So it’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde Picture for Kier Starmer: on the one hand, trapped in the vestigial coils of Hinkley Point, but on the other developing a clearer picture of where we should be heading in the interests of both energy security and a sustainable future for our Planet. Let’s hope he makes the right choice this time…
Red Ribbon
Red Ribbon, founder of Eco Hotels, is also a pioneer in ESG investment strategies: responsibly managing a diverse portfolio of assets without compromising on sustainability demands, and consistently ensuring positive outcomes for People, Planet and Profit.
Invest in Red Ribbon Asset Management
Red Ribbon Asset Management (www.redribbon.co) aims to harness the full potential of fast evolving and emerging technologies to meet the needs of global communities as part of a circular economy, fully recognising the compelling demands of planet people and profit.