So what went wrong Lincs? Why are we paying more for electricity in the UK than anywhere else on the planet?
Tell me what recent projects have come in at the cost that they were first quoted?
Crossrail?
HS2?
Sizewell ?
Incidentally, why are we messing about with wind turbines and solar panels when one decent nuclear power station will deliver all this?
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It cost more for your solar ?
Before 9-11 when I used to visit Florida I would go fishing , exploring by the canals by Turkey Point nuclear power plant as great wild life and canal waters loaded with interesting fish but after 9-11 the security stepped up and now off limits .
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The UK system, on privatisation, created lots of complexity. The electricity producers are one part, the distribution grid another, and the sellers and resellers yet another. The wholesale price is a primary factor - set by Ofgen (I think). But each part of the generation / distribution / contract with consumers businesses all have running costs, profit targets and shareholder payouts. Such a complex model with such a strong emphasis of multiple company profit for shareholders is never going to deliver a low cost product.
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None. And not just over budget but also late. You can add most other major construction projects to that list. You can certainly add Hinkley Point C which on approval in 2016 was to be Ā£18bn but now expected to be Ā£35bn (at 2016 pricing). And projected to be the most expensive electricity produced in the UK. Thereās an answer to another of your questions.
I think there was one exception to that rule. I read that Heathrow terminal 5 build (not the kitting out which led to a luggage handling problem) was completed on schedule and pretty much to target cost.
Funnily enough, Iāve never read about a wind farm or a solar farm coming in late and over budget. Have you?
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Arenāt wind and solar farms built by private companies and subsidised by the government?
I heard that recently the government had reduced the subsidy, and were finding it hard to find companies that would take new contracts on.
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Yes NCS, all methods of producing electricity come with their own set of problems, and nuclear has the potential to provide the worst.
I actually think that generating electricity from wind and solar is a brilliant idea, but definitely not on a large scale. Businesses like farming and indeed, private houses, are perfect for the installation of a few solar panels or wind turbines to offset the rising costs of energy.
However, to consider replacing power stations to supply a nations energy is just stupid, inefficient, costly, and creates more damage to the environment than a power station.
Inefficient because in the UK we have just a few hours of daylight in the winter, just at the time when we need more electricity. The wind doesnāt always blow, and if this should happen at night then we shall need proper power stations to take up the slack.
Furthermore, in an attempt to remedy this, there are plans to build massive lithium battery power banks to store electricity when there is no output from either solar or wind powered equipment. They are planning to build one near me, itās been hailed as the largest such project in the UKā¦And wait for itā¦It will supply 3000 houses for one hour when operationalā¦Do they realise how ridiculous that is?
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Not quite correct, Bob, thereāre four countries with higher electricity costs.
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Don Quixote would have had a problem with all these turbines!
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I agree with foxy, what are these four countries (out of the 195 on this planet)
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It just says that electricity costs are high but not the highest. They are the highest in Ireland, followed by Italy, Germany, and Belgium.
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They might be paying more Dachs, but the value of things is relative to a persons income.
Keir Starmer wonāt be too concerned about his electricity bill, but there are lots of people here in Yorkshire who will be struggling to pay theirs this winter.
When I was a lad, the electricity bill was probably 5% of my Dadās earnings, now itās 25% of mineā¦Well I havenāt actually worked it outā¦But you get the driftā¦
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As you know when we older Blokes get together we enjoy complaining , women not so much .
Either way older male tourists from UK who I get to chat with for a bit ALL ticked off at high utility rates .
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I would have never thought Germany , I meet plenty of German tourists we men chat but I have never heard one complain about utility rates , truth is it has only been from UK and Italy ( I speak Italian ) who are the most ticked with men from UK complaining as much as I enjoy doing , lol so we hit it off .
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Build Nuke Generation plants on small low populated, uninhabited islands with many miles of space From population and lots of water. Let Ai do most of its crap there and produce the Max power for Civilization.
Power cables submerged to trans the power to the nearby 100 miles away distributors.
Surround the power plant with several high walls to break the surf. Nothing we canāt design and build.
The point being that wind and Sunlight + Dams / power plants cannot supply all the needed elecricity!
Drag the screaming, unhappy, greedy people off of them and toss em in jails.
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Well, as for tourists being expected to complain about electricity costs is a bit unrealistic, isnāt it. Tourists wouldnāt be tourists if they didnāt have that extra money for travelling. These people can be expected to pay their electricity bills as well. Plus, if you met them in the US, they must definitely have been better-off since only those can afford such a once-in-a-lifetime journey. And, electricity bills arenāt exactly a sexy topic to be discussed when meeting a local for the first time and when the whole holiday is about enjoyment and relaxation. Holiday-makers are usually in a positive mood.
Fourthly, thereās often a difference between the way we believe things to be and how they are in reality. As for Germany, non-Germans tend to stick to views and images of the past while ignoring more recent processes of deterioration, in short, once fat cats, always fat cats. These times are over, though.
I havenāt falsified the stats, but they paint a different picture. Direct energy expenditures accounted for around 9.6 percent of consumer spending in 2023.
Indirectly, energy costs are of course also included in products such as food, clothing, and public transportation expenses. Accordingly, other goods and services have also become more expensive due to rising energy prices. While spending across all product groups increased by just under 17 percent on average between 2020 and 2023, direct energy spending grew by an average of 51 percent. In Germany, 4.2 million people canāt pay their electricity bills.
Needless to say that people in the lower income brackets suffer more, in any country, Bob. Almost 10% is less than 25% but that might just be your gut feeling. What is the real percentage?
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And the Hinkley C power plant is not subsidised by the government?
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But earlier you were complaining that wind / solar cannot generate at the scale of a decent sized coal plant. Yes they can, that is clear. So now you say that wind / solar should not be allowed to scale up to the level. Which is it? Unable to, or not allowed to?
There is no evidence for this claim. It is quite the opposite when you include the impact of the fossil fuel being consumed.
But the wind does blow in winter. So much so that the wind turbines in Orkney deliver so much electricity that they send it to the mainland. Its producing more than the population in Orkney need. So donāt put solar panels up north, just down south. Simples.
The problem of electricity over / under supply has existed for as long as a national grid has been in place. Coal power stations run at a slow-to-change output and are ill-suited to rapid changes in demand. In the 50ās and 60ās huge hydro-plants had to be built that filled high reservoirs ready for rapid surge in power by releasing water. Large battery banks serve the same purpose. I imagine that back in the day you would have been complaining about the destruction of hillsides and the huge cost & impact of building those hydro-plants.
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I have met countless tourists that I discuss that I am originally from Albany moved here 7 years ago but how expensive Miami is compared to Albany be it car insurance , home insurance ( insane ) etc and we chat politics if we chat long enough , again mostly the men .
UK when we do chat in that area ALWAYS ticked at utility charges .
Edit , let me add we discuss how enough here are pretty rude compared to rest of Florida and I always tell them do not think rest of USA is like Miami . People here are not actually rude per-se but inconsiderate as the world evolves around them not aware of others which is bit different to rude / malicious .
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I will guess that roughly 80 - 90 percent of tourists here from other countries are for cruises which leave from Miami port , cruises not expensive and fun .
They get here again give or take 2 days prior to cruise ships leaving , ships mostly leave Sat , Sun so tonight plenty of tourists by friends food truck and it will be Miami beach area but they did not come for Miami as no one actually does anymore but since they do not leave port till tomorrow or Sunday they are there .
Today being Halloween it is no family night as plenty of nude type costumes and wall to wall drunks by the beach . I rather not go out tonight but what can I do as committed but I do not like wild nights .
Canadian ( no longer come ) UK and Italian tourists chat about anything but rest stand offish .
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