LONDON (Reuters) – Long-term contracts to reward low-carbon energy were part of proposals unveiled by the UK government on Tuesday as it looks to incentivize a power sector set to shed a quarter of its traditional capacity over the next decade.

The UK will see old coal and nuclear power stations close this decade, requiring more than 110 billion pounds ($176 billion) of investment to build the equivalent of 20 large power stations and upgrade the grid, the government said.

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) – Britain’s nuclear strategy is
“uninvestable” for private clients, who are only likely to put
money into new plants if the government shoulders more of the
risks involved, Citigroup’s head of European utilities research
said on Wednesday.

Nuclear developers plan to build around 16 gigawatts of new
nuclear capacity in the UK by 2025 to help meet the UK’s tough
climate targets, but the investment environment is “dire”, Peter
Atherton told journalists at a briefing in London.

LONDON (Reuters) – The government needs to step up efforts to meet the world’s toughest climate targets, the government’s climate change adviser urged, despite pressures posed by a record deficit and flagging economy.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) reports to Parliament on the government’s progress in reducing emissions through a series of ‘carbon budgets’.

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) – The EU Commission stood by its
carbon trading scheme on Monday although prices have fallen more
than a quarter in four weeks and a fresh glitch, forcing a
suspension of contract settlements, underlined technical
problems.

“No single instrument will allow us to successfully address
the climate challenge,” Jos Delbeke, director general of the
commission’s climate action division, said in a statement.

LONDON (Reuters) – A European plan to raise funds for clean energy has backfired spectacularly, helping trigger a rout on its carbon trading scheme, and so cutting available green funds and benefiting polluting coal plants.

Additional causes for the latest sell-off included eurozone woes over Greece, and an EU efficiency directive announced this week which could send carbon emissions lower.

LONDON (Reuters) – Traders in the European Union’s carbon market are mulling the potential impact of EU Commission plans to control carbon permit supply on already weakened emissions permit prices.

The EU Commission has three separate proposals, which could possibly be implemented in any combination, to either bring fresh carbon permit supply to the market or limit it.

LONDON (Reuters) – Solar companies will perform better in the second half of the year as demand in the world’s biggest market Germany should rebound, said a fund manager at the asset management arm of Dublin-based Kleinwort Benson.

Shipments of solar modules and wafers in the first quarter were hurt as uncertainty over subsidies in Europe stalled sales.

LONDON (Reuters) – A tougher European Union climate target may no longer be realistic after Germany announced plans to phase out low-carbon nuclear power, a group board member at Germany utility E.ON EONGn.De told Reuters on Wednesday.

The European Union has said for years that it will cut carbon emissions faster than now if the rest of the world followed suit under a broad climate deal. [ID:nLDE72D1CL]

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil giant Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) says that it is working to explain to Canadians that underground carbon storage is safe, following rejection in the Netherlands.

Energy companies want to show they can both burn cheap coal and gas and hit climate targets by trapping carbon emissions and pumping these underground.

LONDON (Reuters) – A move to natural gas and renewable energy will be a global long-term trend, even though technology such as wind power is currently more costly than fossil fuels and nuclear, a General Electric executive said.

GE is well placed to estimate relative costs as one of the world’s biggest suppliers of all major power technologies.