Nuclear options

2 April 2012 By Kevin Allison

Two German utilities’ withdrawal from Britain’s Horizon nuclear project is a blow to the government’s clean energy ambitions. It needn’t be a fatal one, but policymakers face some politically unappetising choices if they want new nuclear capacity to be built.

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German utilities E.ON and RWE said on March 29 that they would pull out of their joint venture to develop new nuclear power plants in the UK. The companies said they would look for a buyer for the $24 Horizon Nuclear Power project, which would have led to the construction of up to 6 gigawatts of new nuclear power capacity. In all, utilities have announced plans for up to 16 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2025. The UK government has been encouraging investment in new nuclear plants as part of a broader push to secure cleaner energy sources.
E.ON and RWE said their decision to abandon project had been influenced by Germany’s decision to phase out its nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
The pullout came as investors and utilities wait for further information on UK government plans to reform the energy market. The plans, set to come before Parliament in May, include the creation of contracts to reward producers of low-carbon energy, including nuclear power.

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