Susanne Nies
Some of the windiest conditions – and best electricity generating opportunities – are found out at sea or in remote on-land spots. But if we, as people with cars and boats to transport us, struggle to get to Europe’s more isolated locations, electricity has an even greater battle to travel from some sources to demand.
What is more, electricity faces an uphill struggle to travel between EU countries since there is no single market for electricity in Europe, and very limited infrastructure to carry it across borders. For example, Spain has an interconnection rate of just 3.6%, making it a virtual island.
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The Court of Auditors in France has this week published a report revealing that the cost of producing nuclear energy is set to surge in France as old plants need updating and new safety standards put in place. Nuclear will require significant investment in the short and medium term at a rate of at least double the current level of investment, the Court says.
The total cost of the nuclear industry in France –the world’s most nuclear-reliant country – since the beginning of the industry in the 50’s amounts to €188 billion, the report finds. Moreover, new plants are likely to be much more expensive to construct: Fessenheim, a nuclear plant in the Alsace region built in 1977 cost €1.07 million per MW of capacity whereas the EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) nuclear plant in Flamanville will cost €3.7 million per MW.
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By Steve Sawyer, Secretary General, GWEC
The Eurozone crisis continues to deepen, the Chinese economy is threatening to stall, and the Arab Spring seems to be turning into the winter of discontent; and the war drums are starting to beat in Washington again. We’re having the warmest La Niña year in history, the Greenland and Antarctic icecaps are getting shakier and shakier, and even the chief economist of the IEA is warning governments that they only have five years to get their act together or the window for avoiding more than 2° C of global mean temperature rise will be all but closed.
In this context, it’s hard to make a rosy prediction for wind energy markets in 2012.
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For decades traditional fuels have enjoyed global dominance on the energy market virtually unchallenged, but that situation is changing. News out this week shows that global renewable energy deals surged last year by a massive 40%, triggered by the Japanese nuclear disaster and buoyed by an increase in billion dollar transactions.
The finding is contained in a PriceWaterHouse Cooper report published on Monday which reveals that renewable energy deals hit a record high of $53.5 billion in 2011 – compared to $38.2 billion in 2010.
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Tapping into the vast potential of America’s wind power and solar industries while also increasing the nation’s traditional domestic energy supplies formed a major part of US President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address last week.
Before an estimated television audience of 38 million viewers, Obama said the country could develop a lasting economy by building on energy, manufacturing, job skills and a renewal of American values.
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