Big boost for nuclear energy as it’s given environmental green light
NUCLEAR energy is to be reclassified “environmentally sustainable” in a drive to make it generate a quarter of the UK’s electricity by 2050.
A Great British Nuclear scheme will be launched to “bring down costs” and “provide opportunities” in the supply chain, Jeremy Hunt said.
The Chancellor also launched a competition for small modular reactors (SMRs), which will be funded if the technology proves viable.
He confirmed an announcement made last year to invest £700million in the planned Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk.
Incentives
That will follow Hinkley Point C, which is currently under construction in Somerset and due to start generating electricity in 2027.
To cheers from the Tory benches, Mr Hunt told the House of Commons yesterday: “Increasing nuclear capacity is vital to meet our net-zero obligations. To encourage private sector investment into our nuclear programme, subject to consultation, nuclear power will be classed as environmentally sustainable.
“That will give it access to the same investment incentives as renewable energy and alongside that will come
more public investment.” Mr Hunt also wants to invest up to £20billion to help develop carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) technologies. They are designed to suck up carbon from the emissions made by major polluting industries, such as steel, glass or power.
It is hoped the technology could
remove 20-30 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year – which could support up to 50,000 jobs. Mr Hunt told MPs: “An enterprise economy needs low taxes, but it also needs cheap and reliable energy. The long-term solution is not subsidy but security.
“That means investing in domestic
sources of energy that fall outside [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin or any autocrat’s control.
“We are world leaders in renewable energy. We have increased the proportion of electricity generated from renewables from under 10 per cent when we came into office to nearly 40 per cent.
“Because the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, even under the Conservatives, we will need another critical source of cheap and reliable energy, and that is nuclear.”
Mr Hunt added: “In the autumn statement, I announced the first state-financed investment in nuclear for a generation, a £700million investment in Sizewell C.
“I can announce two further commitments to deliver our nuclear ambitions. Firstly, the launch of Great British Nuclear, which will bring down costs and provide opportunities across the nuclear supply chain to help provide one quarter of our electricity by 2050.”
The Chancellor then broke off to aim a jibe at the Labour benches, quipping: “It is so good to hear Labour in favour of nuclear energy... just a shame they never did any.”
He then continued: “Secondly, I’m launching the first competition for small modular reactors.
“It will be completed by the end of this year and if demonstrated as viable we will co-fund this exciting new technologies.”
On carbon capture Mr Hunt said: “I want to develop another plank of our green economy, carbon capture usage and storage.
“I’m allocating up to £20billion of support for the early development of CCUS starting with projects from our East Coast to Merseyside to North Wales, paving the way for CCUS everywhere across the UK as we approach 2050.
“That will support up to 50,000 jobs, attract private sector investments, and help capture 20-30 million tons of CO2 per year by 2030.”
Mr Hunt’s announcement on energy received a mixed response.
Professor Adrian Bull, of Manchester University’s Dalton Nuclear Institute, said: “The Chancellor’s words on nuclear give a positive message, but it’s more like a greatest hits compilation from the past, rather than anything new. “Confirming nuclear’s environmental credentials will certainly help attract investment. “Nuclear is as low-carbon as renewables and should always have been treated that way. He’s announced Great British Nuclear... about the fourth time it’s been announced. “What we need is to see it actually come into being.” Prof Bull said of Mr Hunt’s first competition for SMRs: “Maybe there is nobody left in Whitehall who remembers the abortive SMR competition which George Osborne launched back in 2015, promising an SMR in the UK in the 2020s.
“Let’s just hope this one actually leads to something.”
Policy announcements for renewable energy are expected later in the month, with many eco groups hoping for what has been nicknamed the Government’s “Green Day”.