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FBaggins

(26,693 posts)
Thu May 10, 2012, 11:18 AM May 2012

U.K. Keeps Energy Reforms on Track


The U.K. government Wednesday confirmed that long-awaited legislation to reform the electricity market to encourage the billions of pounds investment needed into low-carbon energy such as wind farms and nuclear plants would go to lawmakers within the next 12 months. The legislative plans, which were announced by the Queen in the state opening of Parliament, represent the biggest shakeup of the U.K.'s electricity market since privatization in the 1990s made it one of the most liberalized energy markets in the world.

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The news will be a relief to investors in renewables, including utilities and wind developers, that have been seeking assurance the bill was on track following reports last week that it could be delayed. The Energy Bill will include incentives for low-carbon power generation as well as a mechanism to support the gas plants needed as backup when intermittent renewables such as wind aren't generating power. It will also introduce an emissions cap for power plants to ensure that new coal-fired power plants aren't built without carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

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The Energy Bill is a cornerstone of government plans to stimulate around £200 billion (roughly $323 billion) investment into the U.K.'s low-carbon energy infrastructure over the next decade to shore up energy security as around a quarter of the country's aging generating capacity is closed down.

The government needs to ramp up low-carbon power from offshore wind farms, nuclear-power stations and gas and coal plants fitted with CCS equipment to meet binding European Union climate-change targets. Such technologies aren't yet advanced enough making the costs are significantly higher than traditional power plants.



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203604577393931001250096.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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