The UK government is placing all of its eggs in one basket as it hopes that Nuclear power alone will be able to provide the 16GW it needs to install by 2025 in order to meet its renewable energy goals.
MPs from the Energy and Climate Change Committee, have released a new report which looks at the barriers to installing the 16GW necessary to meet targets by 2025.
The nuclear industry does have 16GW of new projects in the pipeline, but concerns exist that delays would see the UK miss its targets. The report notes that industry stakeholders have claimed installing 16GW of new nuclear power capacity by 2025 is at best "ambitious" and at worst "unrealistic."
Related article: Indian Nuclear Power Plant Sparks International Fears
Chairman of the committee Tim Yeo stated that "if new nuclear power stations are not built on time, our legally-binding climate change targets will be extremely challenging and much more expensive to meet.
Ministers need to urgently come up with a contingency plan in case the nuclear industry does not deliver the new power stations we need."
John Hayes, the Energy Minister, is pleased with the report, but assures us that there is no need for a plan B.
"The Government is determined to see new nuclear play a role in our future energy mix, as it does today. We are working to make the UK one of the most attractive places in the world to invest in new nuclear."
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More