GMB Magazine GMB24 Centre Point Spring 2016 | Page 19

UPDATE YOUR DETAILS AT www.gmb.org.uk

“If the lights
go out – don’t
blame us!”

DIDCOT POWER STATION
electricity stations in
The government is shunning new gas
pollution.
e
favour of diesel, which generates mor

Rex Features/EDF/iStock

some on existing power station sites. But
instead of awarding them the contracts,
Rudd handed over £174 million in subsidies
to companies who will build dozens of
polluting diesel generators.
Rudd’s deputy, Andrea Leadsom, another
mouthy ex-banker, claimed that the auction
was a success. “It’s a good deal for
customers,” she bleated when challenged.
“Fierce competition in the capacity market
has driven down costs, meaning future
capacity has been secured at the lowest
price possible.”
on. Unless there is a scientific breakthrough
on carbon capture, nuclear power and gas are
the only shows in town. Those advocating
renewable energy have to accept this.”
In the midst of this shambles, Energy and
Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd, a
former banker, held a crazy ‘reserve’ auction
in which generators were invited to make
bids for the supply of electricity in the period
to 2019/20.

BIZARRE OUTCOME
David ‘cut the green crap’ Cameron’s
government is committed to short-term,
dirty power at the expense of a long-term
energy strategy that delivers jobs and reliable
electricity supplies.
Phil Whitehurst, GMB’s national officer for
engineering construction, called the auction
result “bizarre”, adding: “How ridiculous is

“We can’t rely on wind power...
For 12 days this winter, wind power
was delivering 10 per cent or less of y”
the installed wind electricity capacit
There was a clear front-runner for the
46-gigawatt contract. It promised energy
security using the latest technology:
combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT)
generation. It also guaranteed employment
for thousands of skilled British workers.
Six companies offered to build eight,
cleaner CCGT plants around the country,

the outcome that has left the UK now
dependent on polluting diesel generators
for our energy security.
“The whole process should be scrapped
and a more viable process put in place to
supply the UK with a sustainable medium-tolong-term generation policy until the new
fleet of nuclear power stations is up and

running. Combined-cycle gas turbine
power stations should be playing a part
in that process.”
He warned that one big UK firm – CB&I
Shaw – is preparing to quit the construction
market here at home because the
government favours overseas investors who
undercut our labour standards and exploit
migrant workers to bolster their profits.
In fact, the Tories are already having
second thoughts about the auction route.
Ministers have held consultations on possible
changes to the rules of the scheme. They
want to know if the framework ‘still
commands the confidence of the industry
and investors to deliver world-class energy
security and investment in new capacity.’
Hardly a ringing endorsement, and it’s a
bit late in the day to start wondering whether
you’ve got it right or not. Homes, industry and
commerce rely on correct long-term decision
making. Oil is cheap now, but who knows
what it will cost in 2019?

FUTURE FOLLY
If diesel-reliant generators are forced to
pay higher prices, the whole structure of
electricity supply could collapse. The Tories
are handing over the nation’s energy security
to the fickle rulers of OPEC.
The coal from Kellingley went just a few
miles by rail to local generating stations:
Ferrybridge and Eggborough, both closing in
March, and to Drax, now partially converted
to burning biomass. This comes in the form of
wood pellets all the way from Mississippi to
Liverpool and then over the Pennines by rail.
The miners paid with their jobs for this folly.
It’s even more crazy to deny a future to skilled
construction engineers who should be
building the next generation of power stations.
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