The Hinkley delay is an opportunity to explore other energy sources

SIR – It is good that the Government is reconsidering the usefulness of the proposed Hinkley Point power station (report, July 29). The high price of its energy could harm our economy.

It seems that green campaigners are already using this as an opportunity to demand more renewable energy. However, they will only convince me when they can make the sun shine and the wind blow for 24 hours every day.

With the reduction in coal generation, the only significant and reliable power generation source we have is gas, which we will hopefully be able to acquire from fracking. I think we at last have a Government that is wise enough to realise this. Chris Lewis Widnes, Cheshire SIR – Instead of an expensive and risky nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, we should be looking at exploiting our vast coal reserves and investing in carbon-capture technology. Britain has less than 1 per cent of the world’s population and is needlessly spending money on inefficient renewable energy, while making little impact on global warming. Security of supply would be an additional and major benefit. John Kellie Pyrford, Surrey SIR – One of the worst decisions made by Margaret Thatcher’s government was to shelve the Severn Barrage scheme. It would have produced up to 6 per cent of the UK’s electricity.

Given the apparent reluctance of the present Government to proceed with the Hinkley plant, now is a good time to revisit this project. There are big cost and environmental implications, but at least we would not end up with vast amounts of nuclear waste. Michael Wishart St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan SIR – David R Boswell (Letters, July 24) wrongly advocates hydroelectric schemes. Rivers often suffer low flows due to the obstructions involved, and fish are harmed. A simpler way to obtain renewable energy would be for all national and local authorities to install solar panels on their roofs. Neil Upton Swansea SIR – It is worrying that budgets for projects such as Hinkley Point often massively underestimate the cost.

A cynic might think that, when the cost-benefit analysis is initially carried out, a budget figure is manipulated so as to give the required return on investment and thus ensure approval.

If it all goes wrong, no one will be held accountable. After all, it’s only taxpayers’ money. Terry Lloyd Darley Abbey, Derbyshire SIR – How can Britain afford to waste billions of pounds getting businessmen from London to Birmingham half an hour quicker, but has to go begging to the French and Chinese to get a power station built? Tim Prentice Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire