EDF Battles Miliband Over Nuclear Investment

A month ago Ed Miliband announced the next generation of nuclear power that is going to provide a sizable chunk of our energy – 11 new sites to be operational by 2017. But the fanfare over Britain’s nuclear future has been muffled somewhat by the head of EDF Energy, Vincent de Rivaz, in an interview with the FT today.

While the government clearly supports the idea of nuclear, it doesn’t really want to support it financially – they claim that a free electricity market, combined with the EU emissions trading scheme, will be impetus enough for private investment. But de Rivaz is calling for a “level playing field”, saying that to give wind farms subsidies and not nuclear just isn’t cricket; he’s also said that without subsidies, maybe he won’t invest at all in the UK come 2011. It’s a classic bit of provocation, and expect a bit of a stand-off over the coming months between Miliband and the big nuclear players. The fact that reactors cost over £4bn to construct, along with the uncertainty of steady revenue thanks to all the other potential new players going online in the coming years, does mean that de Rivaz has a pretty fair point.

EDF bought British Energy last year, the previously semi-nationalised company that owns most of the UK’s nuclear plants and the sites for proposed new ones. 85% of EDF is owned in turn by the French government – having such a large chunk of energy revenue given to the frogs will no doubt have the right-wing press in a flap soon enough.

In other green news today, China has pledged $440bn for investment in renewables, mostly wind power, to take the share of renewable energy to 6% of total output by 2020, rather than the 1.5% it is today. And Vattenfall and DONG energy, the companies who are building our Thanet and London Array wind farms respectively, have been named two of the worst offenders for greenwash, the practice of pretending you’re being green when actually you’re on Captain Planet’s to-do list. I’d take it with a pinch of salt though – the fact that two Danish companies are on a list compiled by a Danish renewables activism group might hint at a bit of PR-mongering of their own.

Posted by Ben Beaumont-Thomas in Green Rush | May 26, 2009 10:50AM |