Hinkley is the right decision, says Ed Davey

  Going ahead with the Hinkley Point C nuclear project is the right decision, according to the former Energy Secretary Ed Davey. Speaking to ELN at the Carbon Trust ‘Clean Tech […]

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Going ahead with the Hinkley Point C nuclear project is the right decision, according to the former Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

Speaking to ELN at the Carbon Trust ‘Clean Tech Investor Forum’ event yesteday, he said nuclear investment is the right decision as it is not yet certain whether renewables and storage will be able to reliably cover the UK’s base-load in the near future.

As one of the original brokers of the Hinkley deal, Mr Davey reinforced his belief in the project: “Hinkley, I think is critical for a diverse low carbon approach. I know there are many people who think it’s expensive, I would tend to disagree… My view always was that if we are really going to get to the low carbon future, getting rid of all gas, all coal, replacing our aging nuclear fleet, it can’t all be done by renewables.”

Speaking about the first US shale gas imports into the UK by INEOS, Mr Davey suggested shipping it to Scotland may actually cause more environmental damage than simply fracking itself.

He also discussed the risk of Brexit eroding the UK’s international influence.

He said: “I’m actually worried about the loss of influence for Britain. If you go to Europe you can influence the rest of Europe. If you’re not there you can’t and that impacts our climate change policy, it impacts the single energy market and what that means for cheaper, more secure energy and it also links to our global and strategic energy security issues.”

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