Firms Plan to Power New Nuclear Age

By SAM FLEMING

EDF ENERGY and British Energy are moving closer to forging a major alliance to build new nuclear power plants in Britain, as the country prepares for its next atomic age.

Vincent de Rivaz, UK head of French-owned EDF, said the aspirations of the two companies now ‘match each other pretty well’.

He added: ‘Their ambition is not only to provide sites, but to be an active player. We are very positive about it.’ The government said in yesterday’s Energy White Paper that its ‘ preliminary view’ was new nuclear plants should be used to reduce reliance on gas imports and curb carbon emissions.

A final decision will be taken in October, but there now seems little doubt which way the wind is blowing. Firms such as Germany’s E.ON are also pushing ahead with plans to build new nuclear capacity in Britain.

The atomic industry was given a boost by a commitment in the White Paper to a workable emissions trading scheme, under which energy intensive businesses have to pay for permits to pollute.

The plan should put a minimum cost on carbon emissions, helping to prop up electricity prices. Nuclear generators need more predictable prices before ploughing billions into new capacity. But the government also plans to broaden the scope of carbon trading to cover a greater number of businesses, which could cause pain in many areas of industry.

The government has started to search for viable sites and hopes to reduce the regulatory and planning barriers to new nuclear plants.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling also said he wants to triple the amount of electricity from renewable sources, including wind and wave, by 2015.

But critics including the Liberal Democrats said the growing momentum behind nuclear power may ‘squeeze out’ renewables.

One green casualty emerged within hours of the White Paper’s release.

BP pulled out of a pioneering project to build a power station that stripped out greenhouse gases and pumped them into a mature North Sea field.

The government’s timetable for socalled ‘carbon capture and storage’ projects was too drawn out for BP to keep its project with generator Scottish and Southern Energy alive.

(c) 2007 Daily Mail; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.