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The Unbalancing Mechanism | Adam Bell

The Unbalancing Mechanism | Adam Bell

Why the UK’s energy prices are too high and why we stopped building nuclear power stations

The Unbalancing Mechanism | Adam Bell
Summary
Nutrition label

82% Informative

Foundations has dominated the Westminster wonk scene over the Party Conference season.

Its central thesis is that economic growth rests upon getting the foundations of the economy - investment, housing, infrastructure and energy - right.

But where it seeks to explain why the UK ’s energy prices are high it falls down.

Labour commited to nuclear power in its 2005 manifesto, and by 2010 both main parties had it as an objective.

We have built an energy system that depends on the North Sea being fruitful, and have failed to respond to it no longer being so.

The UK ’s electricity system operator plans for 54 billion of total transmission spending between now and 2030 .

The aim of the Foundations paper is to push for growth, an aim I endorse.

But this only applies if we build an exclusively solar and wind-based power system.

We do not need to match peak demand exactly with a fleet of dispatchable backup plants.

Over 50GW of batteries are in the pipeline, as well as other technologies that provide longer duration output.

VR Score

84

Informative language

83

Neutral language

30

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

50

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

External references

25

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