UK ministers will put nuclear power at the heart of Britain’s strategy to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in government documents expected as early as next week, alongside fresh details of its funding model.

Energy Policy UK

"Wind and solar, these energies are not renewable, they are intermittent. If I am elected, I will put a stop to all construction of new wind parks and I will launch a big project to dismantle them," she said on RTL radio.

General Europe

The supreme court case centred on whether the construction of turbines at Storheia and Roan in the Fosen region of central Norway, part of a $1.3 billion development that is Europe's largest onshore wind farm, had interfered with Sami herders' cultural rights under international conventions. "A grand chamber of the supreme court unanimously found an interference with this right, and ruled the wind power licence and the expropriation decision invalid," the court said in its ruling. It did not say what should happen next to the facilities, but a lawyer representing the herders said the verdict means the 151 wind turbines should be dismantled.

Impact on People Legal Europe

The case concerned the question of whether the development of Storheia and Roan wind turbines at Fosen violates the reindeer herding Sami's right to cultural practice according to the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights (SP) Article 27. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the rights have been violated, and that the decisions are invalid. For this reason, the discretion to determine compensation for the intervention was refused.

Impact on People Legal Europe

It was not immediately clear what the judgment’s consequences of would be, but lawyers for the herders said the 151 turbines on the Fosen peninsula could be torn down. The turbines, whose construction was completed in 2020, form part of the largest onshore windfarm in Europe.

Impact on People Legal Europe

Experts in Scotland found exposure to electromagnetism triggered 'behavioural and physiological responses' in around 60 brown crabs at the St Abbs Marine Station. ...The cables for offshore renewable energy also emit an electromagnetic field that attracts the crabs and causes them to become stationary, which affects breeding and migration, according to the team. 

Impact on Wildlife Offshore Wind Transmission UK

Cllr Andrew Hinchliffe feared beautiful views, such as those enjoyed from Llanfairfechan, could be "destroyed". “From where we are now, we can only see the present turbines over Llandudno, which is very surprising, but these will be double the height and extending right across the vista, which I find very difficult,” he said. “I think this is far too much. If they were going to build this, surely turbines could be much further out and less intrusive on our landscape.

Impact on Views Offshore Wind UK

Steag GmbH – which operates six large-scale hard coal plants in Germany with an installed capacity of more than 4,000 MW – closed its Bergkamen-A plant in the western part of the country this week due to shortages of hard coal, it said by email. “We are short of hard coal,” said Daniel Muhlenfeld, a Steag spokesman. “There is a strong demand for coal per se and secondly, there is a strong demand for transport by barge. And since Bergkamen has no rail connection, there are no logistical alternatives available here.” As a result of the failure of “green” renewable sources of energy to fill the demand gap, European utilities have turned to coal due to shortages of natural gas, recently stepping in to the spot market to secure cargoes and even asking Russia for more supplies. China’s move to secure more supplies is likely to make matters worse, with Europe set to scramble to secure fuel this winter.

Energy Policy Germany

According to a statement on RAG Montan Immobilien’s website “The plant has completely collapsed, most of the components such as the wings, machine house and the upper steel element are at the base of the plant and in the adjacent forest.”  According to local news reports, the incident could be heard several kilometres away.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

According to Nordex, there are almost two dozen identical turbines in Germany or are still under construction. As a preventive measure, all 23 systems with the same configuration have been temporarily shut down nationwide, according to Nordex. This also includes a neighboring facility in Haltern. Among other things, the identical Jüchen wind farm was taken off the grid.

Safety Energy Policy Germany

The wind turbine was completely destroyed by the collapse, as a spokesman for RAG MI announced. All that remained was a 40-meter-high stump made of concrete parts. ... The twin system, which is around 450 meters away, was put out of operation for safety reasons immediately after the collapse became known. "It will not be put back into operation until the cause of the accident has been clarified." According to the municipal utilities, the wind turbine was connected to the grid when it collapsed. According to the Haltern fire brigade, it was not very windy.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Officials in Germany are investigating why a huge wind turbine collapsed just hours before it was due to be officially inaugurated.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Plans had already been approved for the six turbines being built by French Energy giant EDF, but a new application was submitted after they decided to increase the height of the turbines from 455ft to a new tip height of 491ft - more than twice the height of Edinburgh’s Scott Monument and almost the height of the Blackpool Tower.

Impact on Views Impact on People UK

Local authority officers warn of impact on tourism spending and views from the coastline and Llandudno Pier

Impact on People Tourism UK

Energy giant SSE said its renewable assets produced 32% less power than expected between April 1 and Sept. 22 thanks to historically dry and low-wind conditions. This equates to 11% of its full-year output target.“This shortfall was driven by unfavourable weather conditions over the summer, which was one of the least windy across most of the UK and Ireland and one of the driest in SSE’s Hydro catchment areas in the last seventy years.

General UK

Protestors had gathered on Friday in an attempt to voice their concerns against the plans for the wind projects. The protests took place in Le Havre and Cherbourg, with the protestors being made up of predominantly fishermen. ...Marine Le Pen also took to Twitter to stand in unity with the fishermen of France. She tweeted: “All my support for the fishermen who courageously oppose offshore wind projects.

Offshore Wind Europe

Dr John Constable, the director of REF, said: "Uncontrollable and heavily subsidised generation such as wind-power has made the UK electricity system into a costly and dysfunctional joke. "High winds, low winds – whatever the weather, the consumer suffers. It's almost the only thing about wind that is reliable."

Impact on Economy Energy Policy UK

A hastier phaseout of coal coupled with slow uptake of renewables and a higher rise in power demand would not only drive up electricity bills for German homes, already among the highest in Europe, but also raise the specter of frequent power outages, especially during chilly winters.

Energy Policy Germany

Vestas will cease production at three European factories that manufacture components for outdated onshore and offshore wind turbines. It will close sites at Lauchhammer in Germany, Viveiro in Spain and Esbjerg in Denmark, the company announced. The turbine manufacturer employs appriximately 650 people across the three sites.

General Europe

While grid operators plan for intermittency in wind power, the latest drop coincided with a Europe-wide squeeze on natural gas, nuclear outages and a fire at a key power interconnector with France. Britain has already turned to coal-burning stations to fill the energy shortfall, but there's a gap emerging there. By 2024, there will be no more coal stations left, and five of the UK's eight nuclear plants will also be halted permanently.

Energy Policy UK