BBC
Broadcasting House 15 September 2017
London
W1A 1AA
For the attention of Ian Hargreaves CBE,
Non-executive Director
Dear Mr Hargreaves,
Within ‘The
Public Purpose’ of the BBC, it states: “…the BBC should provide duly accurate
and impartial news, [and] current affairs…”
News 24 certainly
provided accurate information by the bucketful about new offshore wind
contracts. This piece by Roger Harrabin was continually reproduced on News 24
throughout the day: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41220948
‘New Nuclear’
was slated at every opportunity, comparing the £57.50/MWh offshore wind contracts
against the Hinkley’s nuclear power £92.50/MWh rate. There was not so much as a
mention of the existing 5.3 GW of offshore wind enjoying incomes at £140/MWh.
Indeed,
Professor Grub when interviewed, reacted to the £57.50/MWh news by
declaring: "...the energy revolution really did happen and this is
the moment we knew it was working...".
It states: Small Modular Reactor (SMR) capable of
delivering electricity at £60 per MWh
What did we
get from BBC News 24 and Roger Harrabin – Nothing!
You will be
aware of the intermittency issue of wind power and the need for gas-fired
back-up plant. But there are other far reaching environmental issues also:
6 of
Rolls-Royce’s 440 MW SMRs, on 0.08 sq km sites, would deliver more 24/7
electricity than the 10,975 MW of UK current onshore wind capacity, comprising
of 6,394 wind turbines occupying about 1,450 sq km.
For each
unit of electricity delivered, nuclear power plants only uses 5% of the metals
and 10% of the concrete used by wind farms.
Nuclear
power plants deliver for 60 years; wind farms last 25 years. That 10,975 MW of
onshore wind farm capacity would have to be built a 2nd time and be
10 years into the 3rd build before the same amount of electricity was delivered. That’s a ‘lifespan factor’ of X2.4, meaning: 2,640 MW of nuclear power plant will deliver
more electricity than 26,340 MW of onshore wind farms.
I would
greatly appreciate you letting me know why, quite overtly, the BBC does not provide
duly accurate and impartial news from one day – a fanfare for £57.50/MWh intermittent
electricity, to the next – nothing for £60/MWh 24/7 electricity.
Yours
sincerely,