Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 20TH - 26TH SEPTEMBER 2019 | 19 Finance & Investment Moltex Energy has secured £6 million of crowdfunding to support the development of its molten salt reactor – £2 million more than its target. The campaign was conducted on the Shadow Foundr platform, which said it was the first for a nuclear fission project anywhere in the world. Moltex's reactor design uses molten salt as both a medium ELECTRICITY Moltex bags £6 million of crowd-funding for molten salt reactor for the fuel and a coolant. The company claims it has a number of advantages over gas- and water-cooled reactors. According to the company, the coolant is not pressurised and the by-products of the reaction do not include any radioactive gases, meaning the "explosive release of radioactive products is not possible". The reactor is passively cooled using natural air flow and is "self-damping", with the reaction automatically slowing as the temperature rises. These features prevent the reactor from suffering a meltdown if it loses power. Moltex says the design also reduces the need for expensive safety measures, which have made conventional nuclear reactors "unaffordable". £500m to be invested in green technologies £400 million is to be spent on developing a rapid charging infrastructure for electric vehicles More than £500 million is to be invested in green technolo- gies, including £400 million to develop a rapid charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), the government has announced. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has also revealed £142.9 million is to be invested in research and develop- ment to combat air and water pollution. The first £70 million allocated to the EV charging investment will fund 3,000 charge points, which BEIS claims will more than double the number across the UK, to 5,000. This latest investment complements £1.5 billion to boost the uptake of EVs as part of the government's ambition to end the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. Also announced is £31.5 million for research into technologies to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and £22 million to research new kinds of air pollutants and minimise their effects on public health. In response to the announcement, business, energy and clean growth minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: "The UK has been going further and faster in tackling climate change by becoming the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050 and helping us seize the opportunities of a greener future. "With air pollution thought to kill as many as seven million people a year globally, it's clear more needs to be done. "That's why we're backing these initiatives, aimed at making improvements from battling air pollutants to protecting our invaluable sea life." AJ ENERGY Public sector missing out on £5.6bn in efficiency More than £375 million in cost savings can be made each year if the public sector upgrades its infrastructure to more green technology, a British Gas Business report has found. Powering Britain's Public Sector, published on 16 Septem- ber, found the savings equate to more than £5.6 billion over a typical 15-year energy contract. According to the report, the UK's public sector employs more than five million people, which is equal to one in six UK workers. Current spending within the sector is about a third of the UK's GDP and it accounts for around 3 per cent of the country's emissions. Healthcare, universities and defence represent approximately 55 per cent of public sector energy use. The report found that if half the organisations in these areas updated their energy infrastructure, they would cut emissions by 8 per cent, saving 660,000 tonnes of carbon a year. The carbon reduction savings could be doubled with the injec- tion of around 20 per cent green gas into the fuel mix, it added. All sectors must contribute to the UK's target of attaining net zero emissions by 2050, follow- ing the introduction of legisla- tion earlier this year. Energy is estimated to cost the public sector £3.4 billion and as a result, British Gas is calling on the government to: set a pub- lic sector emissions reduction target for 2030 in legislation; create energy-specific capital spending allowances; extend funding to the Modern Energy Partners project to enable instal- lation of energy technology at more than 1,000 high energy demand sites in the public sec- tor by 2030; ensure a stable and long-term regulatory environ- ment and commit to leading on the delivery of flexibility markets by 2023. ELECTRICITY Investors near deal to buy nuclear fleet A consortium of infrastructure investors is reportedly nearing an agreement to buy a 20 per cent stake in the UK's nuclear fleet from EDF Energy and Centrica. The deal, said to be worth £1.2 billion, could be signed within the next weeks, according to unnamed sources quoted by Sky News. EDF Energy and Centrica would each sell a 10 per cent stake in the fleet, leaving them with respective shares of 70 per cent and 10 per cent. They would be bought by a consortium led by Dalmore Capital including Equitix and GLIL. Banking sources also told Sky that JP Morgan has been instructed to find investors willing to acquire more of EDF's share as well as Centrica's remaining interest. EDF reportedly wants to maintain a majority stake in the fleet. First £70m will fund 3,000 EV charging points The design of the reactor additionally includes a molten salt battery to store surplus energy. Moltex was one of eight companies to be awarded grants of up to £300,000 to undertake feasibility studies as part of the government's £44 million research and development programme for advanced modular reactors. This week

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