Offshore wind could replace nuclear power at Hinkley Point: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

The UK government could scrap the £18-billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point and generate the same amount of electricity from offshore wind turbines for roughly the same investment, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

The assessment came after prime minster Theresa May's decision to review whether to proceed with the first new atomic plant in more than three decades.

At the same capital costs, the UK could install about 830 new turbines at sea, capable of generating 25 terawatt hours a year, the same amount of power the Hinkley reactors would produce, according to the London-based researcher.

The findings added to the debate over whether Electricite de France SA's proposal made economic sense. With the cost of offshore wind turbines falling, developers led by Dong Energy A/S of Denmark were promoting renewables as a better way to produce energy without the emissions that cause global warming.

''If we had 18 billion to spend today, we could build 5.7 gigawatts of offshore wind ­-- just under double the capacity and generating the same level of power as Hinkley Point,'' said Keegan Kruger, analyst for BNEF.

The BNEF assessment took into account only the capital cost of erecting various forms of generation, not operating expenses or the price of fuel. It also  did not address the investment required to create storage at a giant scale evening out the power delivered from renewables when the sun was not shining and the wind was not blowing.

Meanwhile, Lord Mandelson, said in a newspaper article that Theresa  May and her new ministers were in danger of taking what might be the right decision for the wrong reason and damaging the UK's relations with China in the process.

''They allowed the impression to be created that it was the China element they objected to most, and that it was Britain's links with this burgeoning communist  power that they most wanted to review.''