More blackout warnings!

[Workingman]

This time from the head of one of the big six power companies, SSE.

Ofgem warned of a 10% cut in capacity from April this year. This man is saying the cut will be much deeper. Why? It is partly because successive governments have fudged the issue of power generation, partly because of the introduction of useless green technologies, and now partly by what looks like blackmail by the power companies.

SSE is cutting back generation capacity because the government will not bring capacity payments forward from 2018 to 2014. Other generators are due to follow.

Maybe it is time to take back power generation into public ownership.

[Kaz]

If only we could go back about 20 years and MAKE the bloody government build some nuclear power stations. The French did and now we are having to buy in foreign power whilst they are selling it! And yes it should be in public ownership.............

Windmills aren't going to cut it, not solar power. We are screwed basically...........

[TheOstrich]

You are SO right about the inaction by successive Governments, Kaz.

It's not as if they didn't see this under-capacity coming - and the day of reckoning is now nigh.

[Suff]

Maybe it is time to take back power generation into public ownership.

Well at least it would bring the power generation back into British hands. Although given that we import power from the same companies we're going to "steal" their companies from, they might want to charge us 10* the cost they charge us today.... Might not work out so well in the short term but would certainly work out in the long run.

Anything which gets EU companies out of our energy markets is a good thing in my book. They overcharge us because they are regulated at home and are limited to what they can charge.... Failing to generate the power required for the county is as good a reason as any to take them back.

[Suff]

Windmills aren't going to cut it, not solar power. We are screwed basically...........

No, but as WM has pointed out we could use a huge infrastructure of old watermills to generate power, 24x7 where it is needed and when it is needed. OK summer is not so easy, but, still, it helps more than stupid bloody windmills. Also it stops all the Anti climate regulation bunch using Windmills as a rallying point.

We could also invest in truly effective Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal. Then we could sell the technology all over the world.

Ah, sorry, I forgot. The UK has to be useless, follow Germany and trade in the EU...... Bummer.

[cromwell]

This time from the head of one of the big six power companies, SSE.

Ofgem warned of a 10% cut in capacity from April this year. This man is saying the cut will be much deeper. Why? It is partly because successive governments have fudged the issue of power generation, partly because of the introduction of useless green technologies, and now partly by what looks like blackmail by the power companies.

SSE is cutting back generation capacity because the government will not bring capacity payments forward from 2018 to 2014. Other generators are due to follow.

Maybe it is time to take back power generation into public ownership.

Absolutely it is time for that.

eta - If I can persuade the boss, I'm getting a woodburner put in this year.

[KateLMead]

If only we could go back about 20 years and MAKE the bloody government build some nuclear power stations. The French did and now we are having to buy in foreign power whilst they are selling it! And yes it should be in public ownership.............

Windmills aren't going to cut it, not solar power. We are screwed basically...........

Massive profits at that.. New Nuclear power station being built, as I wonder whether this is the company that Yvette Cooper's father put forward and has an interest in..?? any one know?

[Workingman]

I have no idea Kate, but we need to get power from somewhere, no matter who has the contract, and we need it fast.

We are about to invest £billions on fracking for gas for the future, yet we are only spending pennies on geothermal research. The country is criss-crossed with rivers which empty trillions of cubic metres of water into the seas every day, all day and all night, yet we are not even looking at them as a source of power. Each of those cubic metres has the potential to provide 2.7KWh for every metre they descend. If we only got 1KWh from a fraction of them we would lead the world in free clean energy.

[cromwell]

We are about to invest £billions on fracking for gas for the future, yet we are only spending pennies on geothermal research. The country is criss-crossed with rivers which empty trillions of cubic metres of water into the seas every day, all day and all night, yet we are not even looking at them as a source of power. Each of those cubic metres has the potential to provide 2.7KWh for every metre they descend. If we only got 1KWh from a fraction of them we would lead the world in free clean energy.

I know!!!! Who was that Geordie inventor in the nineteenth century who built Cragside and generated hydro-powered electricity for the house? That was about 150 years since, and Gayle mill in Wensleydaye pre-dates that!
Aaaarghhhh!!!!

[Workingman]

Take a look at this: http://www.torrshydro.org/TheProject/Technology.html

The reverse Archimedes screw generator produces 63kW from a site a little more than 10' x 10' x 16' built next to an existing weir. It is made from cheap steel and stone and took six months from construction starting to switching the lights on. It has been producing 155MWh per year, on average, since it was installed. I believe that the cost was iro £240,000.

Imagine if we had 10,000 of them. The cost would be about £2.5bn and they would produce 1.55GWh. 10,000 sites spread over the whole British isles is easily doable.