Prepare To Dig Deeper - You'll Have To!

[Lancashire Lad]

The reform of the electrical market after "25 years of dithering" as promised by Chris Huhne, is finally revealed in the form of a white paper released yesterday:-
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/1...hite-paper.pdf

For those with an interest in such matters, the paper goes a long way to confirming what we have known for quite some time - specifically that a "Capacity Mechanism" will be introduced, which will effectively mean that energy providers will be paid to construct & have intermittency generating plant on standby, to cover the times when wind generation fails to meet demand.

This comes on the back of the also just released "UK Renwable Energy Roadmap": -
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/1...gy-roadmap.pdf
We read of the government's committment to yet more offshore wind, and the requirement for construction of "Peaking Plant" (i.e. intermittency plant under the guise of another name ).

These are long documents (142 and 107 pages respectively), and then there is the white paper's annexe document:-
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/1...hite-paper.pdf at a further 89 pages, which is also needed to gain the full picture.

Even I, with my longstanding interest in the subject found my resolve tested almost to the point of despair in reading much of the content in these.

The "press release" and associated articles in the major broadsheet press would have us believe that this government is laying down the foundation for change which will reform the electrical market after 25 years worth of dithering - and Huhne has the temerity to state that it is either this investment or the lights go out.

I would retort by saying that it was government who privatised the power generating sector - which had the effect of putting profit before infrastructure. And it has been the successive governments during the last 25 years that have been doing the dithering. - If they had got their respective fingers out when they should have done, we wouldn't find ourselves with the massive and financially punitive problems that we will now have to overcome.

Regards,
Mike.

[Burko]

It's a shame there was such a hoo-ha about the Severn Barrage proposal.

[PMG]

Originally Posted by Hobjob

Agree with you and Mike.

The lack of scientifically trained MPs is very sad.

Sorry just can't resist this gripe - the lack of intelligence, common sense and truthfulness in MPs is really worrying ............

Pauline

And yes I know we mustn't get onto to politics on here but my crib isn't about policy its about folks getting into positions of power who shouldn't be out the house on their own let alone in government deciding policy for the rest of us ........

[Meta menardi]

Very interesting to see the rate that windfarms and even individual turbines are getting kicked into the long grass. Maybe common sense will prevail over cupidity.