KPMG Energy Report Criticised By RenewableUK
An energy report by the accountancy firm KPMG has been criticised by RenewableUK, the largest renewable energy trade association in the UK.
The report, “Thinking About The Affordable”, claims that the country can meet 2020 carbon emissions targets simply by building more nuclear and gas fired power stations, something which RenewableUK disputes.
The report not only argues that 2020 emissions targets could be reached with new nuclear and gas fired power stations but adds that it would be cheaper than relying on sources of renewable energy to achieve these targets.
The report assumes that the process of building new nuclear power plants will be quick although many believe there will only be around two new nuclear plants in operation by the end of the decade – if that.
The KPMG report argues that without new nuclear power plants the country will become overly dependent on imported fossil fuels such as gas. Not only that but many of the old fossil fuelled power plants will have to be shut down before the end of 2020.
Charles Anglin, Communications Director for RenewableUK said “The recent rises in electricity bills have been caused by the global increase in the price of gas, not by renewables. DECC’s own Annual Report on Fuel Poverty, clearly states that between 2004 and 2009, “domestic electricity prices increased by over 75%, while gas prices increased by over 122% over the same period”, while the cost of generating electricity from wind, according to Ofgem, is less than £10 per year per household, or less than 1% of the average household fuel bill. So relying heavily on gas will not drive fuel bills down in the future”.
A further criticism of the KPMG report according to RenewableUK is that it only considers the cost of building new nuclear power plants – it doesn’t take into consideration future costs such as decommissioning and fuel costs. RenewableUK also argues that the report doesn’t take into account the fact that wind power has quite low operating costs which act as a balance with the high construction costs.
Renewable UK says that in countries such as Germany and Spain the fact that wind power has such a low operating cost means that it’s used as a first choice power source and as a result helps to reduce domestic and business electricity prices.
Many argue that wind turbines only generate electricity for about 30% of the time and this report is no exception. However, this is disputed by RenewableUK which says that wind farms generate electricity 80-85% of the time but only generate the maximum amount at full speed for 30% of the time.
The debate over renewable energy and nuclear power is set to continue for some time and it seems there’s no easy answer. Rising energy bills are likely to be blamed on either sources of renewable energy subsidies, the cost of building new nuclear power plants or the rising cost of wholesale energy prices, depending on who is talking.