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27 Jan, 4 tweets, 2 min read
EDF says Covid construction delays mean Hinkley Point C nuclear plant won’t start up til June 2026 (had been due end 2025) & will now cost up to £23bn.

Previously announced risk of (non-Covid-related) 15 month delays & £700m cost overrun remains in addition to that.
EDF insists the latest Hinkley cost overrun reflects "a health crisis, not an issue with construction".

Says ongoing distancing means it has not "been able to bring on the extra people needed to catch up on work we postponed at the height of the crisis".
thetimes.co.uk/article/edf-bl…
For the background to the Hinkley saga, here's a piece I wrote for Christmas 2017 (The One Where It Was Supposed To Be Cooking Our Turkeys).

Since then other nuclear projects have been scrapped, Hinkley costs have risen and renewables costs have fallen.

thetimes.co.uk/article/has-nu…
And here's a piece I wrote last summer after visiting the Hinkley Point site on how EDF and partner CGN are attempting to learn the lessons from previous projects to avoid further delays and cost overruns in Somerset.

thetimes.co.uk/article/no-let…

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More from @emilygosden

Emily Gosden Profile picture
6 May 20
National Grid could pay EDF more than £50 million to reduce output from Britain’s biggest nuclear reactor to avert the risk of blackouts this summer 🕯🕯🕯

Another little scoop in today’s @thetimes... and another a little 🧵...

thetimes.co.uk/article/big-is…
Low power demand in lockdown is making it trickier for National Grid to keep the lights on, risking the network being swamped with too much power.

As I reported on Saturday, it’s already seeking emergency rights to disconnect small wind and solar plants

National Grid is also negotiating another unprecedented measure to shore up the system ahead of the Bank Holiday, in case it’s v sunny which could mean record low demand ☀️☀️☀️

It’s in talks with EDF over a contract to halve power generation from the Sizewell B plant in Suffolk
Read 10 tweets
Emily Gosden Profile picture
2 May 20
Scoop: National Grid warns that Britain could be at risk of blackouts on Friday.

It’s told Ofgem there’s a “significant risk of disruption to security of supply” unless it’s granted emergency powers to switch off wind & solar farms.

My story, and a 🧵...
thetimes.co.uk/article/blacko…
To keep the lights on National Grid has to keep electricity supply and demand balanced in real time.

Too much or too little power and the system becomes unstable, which can cause blackouts 🕯🕯🕯
Lockdowns due to coronavirus have caused a big drop in power demand as businesses and factories stay shut. We are using about 20% less electricity than normal. 📉

Easter Monday saw all-time record low demand and the bank holiday on Friday May 8 could be even lower.
Read 11 tweets
Emily Gosden Profile picture
16 Aug 19
National Grid will today submit its preliminary technical report to Ofgem on last Friday’s blackouts.

Here’s my exclusive in today’s @thetimes on what I understand to be its initial findings...

thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/l…

Key points: (🧵)
1) Both Hornsea offshore wind farm & Little Barford gas plant are believed to have failed within seconds of each other after a lightning strike to the grid near Little Barford. This caused disturbance that both should’ve been able to withstand; Hornsea had a “technical fault”
⚡️
2) These failures caused an unusually fast drop in frequency on the grid, resulting in a series of smaller “embedded” plants (wind/solar/diesel generators) automatically tripping off the system and exacerbating the supply shortage
📉
Read 7 tweets
Emily Gosden Profile picture
14 Aug 19
The plot thickens re: Friday’s blackouts. A very nerdy thread...
So: initial expert analysis suggested Little Barford gas plant tripped first, followed by Hornsea wind farm shortly after (as I pointed out here when some immediately blamed it all on wind farms)...
Subsequent analysis has also suggested this chronology, per these graphs yesterday from experts at Limejump and Aurora. Both show a drop in frequency blamed on Little Barford, a slight recovery, then further drop blamed on Hornsea.
Read 12 tweets
Emily Gosden Profile picture
23 Jul 19
Last night the government finally published its consultation on using the Regulated Asset Base funding model for future nuclear plants - the model EDF is lobbying for to support Sizewell in Suffolk, the proposed sister plant to Hinkley Point...
...in short, this means energy consumers will have to pay for nuclear plants while they are being built and will be on the hook for cost overruns... thetimes.co.uk/edition/busine…
...except in the case of really extreme cost overruns, when the government (i.e. taxpayer) could either pay the extra, or scrap the project altogether and then have to pay compensation to investors.

What's really interesting is the justification for exposing customers to risk...
Read 7 tweets

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