The Anonymous Widower

Small Nuclear Power Plants To Replace Gas In Quest For Net Zero

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Times.

I was very much involved in the writing of project management software in the last three decades of the last century and if there’s one thing we’re generally good at in the UK, it’s complex project management.

Usually problems arise because of political or ignorant senior management meddling.

Our Energy Saviours

I believe our two energy saviours will be floating offshore wind and small nuclear reactors (SMRs) and both need good project management to be built successfully on production lines.

So I don’t see any reason, why we can’t build large numbers of floating offshore wind farms to supply our electricity.

They are also complimentary, in that the fleet of SMRs back up the wind.

Floating Wind First

Floating wind is likely to be developed at scale first, as certifying anything involving nuclear will take an inordinate time.

The electricity from floating wind farms will keep us going, but it is also starting to develop a nice line in exports.

This press release from Drax is entitled Britain Sending Europe Power Lifeline – Report, where this is the sub-title.

For the first time in over a decade, Britain became a net exporter of electricity to its European neighbours, making around £1.5bn for the economy in three months.

Note.

1. The report was written by Imperial College.
2. Two new interconnectors; Viking Link and NeuConnect between the UK and Europe are under construction.
3. Several large wind farms are under construction and will be commissioned in 2023/24 and could add over 4 GW to UK electricity production.

Exports will only get better.

A Sprint For Wind

So we must have a sprint for wind, which will then provide the cash flow to allow the SMRs to roll in.

Or will that be too much for the ultra-greens, who would object to cash-flow from GWs of wind being used to fund SMRs?

November 26, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Energy | Drax, Floating Wind Power, Imperial College, NeuConnect, Politics, Project Management, Rolls-Royce SMR, Viking Link