Nuclear spin and the regulator
Two new myths now surround wind power following the UK government's recent Energy Policy Review. First, that it is about three times as expensive as nuclear. Second, that wind's fluctuating output is problematic. Equally worrying is the number of other bodies lining up against renewables, including the British energy regulator Callum McCarthy. With an energy minister who is unashamedly pro-nuclear, all the signs are that the government will support a new nuclear building program. Rather than right a wrong by modifying the new electricity trading arrangements (NETA) and thus levelling the playing field for renewables, he suggests the government consider a higher renewables subsidy. But channelling more money into renewables to compensate for the failings of the trading system plays directly into nuclear's hands. Better, surely, to attack the root of the problem -- NETA itself.