Articles by
Craig Morris
43 years after construction start, Watts Bar 2 nuclear plant shut down after 2 days
By
Craig Morris
"The present schedule for constructing the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is predicated on beginning construction in October 1972. This schedule is extremely tight and failure to begin construction in October casts serious doubts on TVA’s ability to meet its load commitments in the 1977-78 period."
Amendments to German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) take shape
By
Craig Morris
Last Wednesday, the German cabinet finalized the details of what will become known as the EEG 2016. An astonishingly wide range of commenters agree on one thing: it’s bad.
Nuclear and coal power when renewables are curtailed
By
Craig Morris
Have I mentioned before that Germany does not have too much renewable power, it has too much baseload? The state of Schleswig-Holstein, which had just over 100% renewable power net last year, is a good place to start investigating, partly because it also has two large coal plants (technically in Hamburg) and a nuclear plant.
Norway not planning ban on gas & diesel car sales
By
Craig Morris
So there you have it: Norway is not going to prohibit its citizens from buying new diesel/gasoline cars, but it will implement progressive policies to encourage a transition towards electric vehicles.
French nuclear under pressure – from German renewables?
By
Craig Morris
In late May, strikes reduced nuclear power production in France. Yet even more plants were offline a few weeks earlier without any strikes at all. German and European renewable electricity may have been one reason why France switched off so many nuclear plants that weekend.
Is Denmark slowing down its energy transition?
By
Craig Morris
The Danes announced plans in May to cut back on the cost and speed of their energy transition. The debate sounds practically identical to the one in Germany, where the government also aims to slow down its Energiewende. But a Danish expert says Denmark remains on course.
German legislators fight over policy rollback on renewables
By
Craig Morris
Berlin wants to dramatically slow down the energy transition, and some states will have none of it.
EU debates nuclear
By
Craig Morris
If you follow nuclear news, it’s been an exciting week. First, Der Spiegel reported (in German) that the EU aimed to ramp up nuclear “massively,” including with the construction of “flexible mini-reactors” – which do not exist. Every few years or so, the concept is proposed as the best solution forward, but we do not have the things yet. G
Pushback against onshore wind power in Germany gets real
By
Craig Morris
Up to now, public support for wind power has been very strong in Germany. But recent changes to German law have encouraged local groups that oppose wind farms. The relegation of competence from the national to the state level means that smaller groups have a larger impact.
EU court rules against Berlin in dispute with Brussels over renewables policy
By
Craig Morris
It’s easy to get this story wrong: a lower EU court has ruled that German feed-in tariffs from the 2012 Renewable Energy Act (EEG) constitute state aid, as do the rules for industry exemptions. One might therefore assume that Germany will have to do something differently, such as get rid of “subsidies.” But one might be wrong.
Did Germany just surpass 100% renewable power?
By
Craig Morris
Just a week after reporting a peak of more than 90 percent renewable power, Agora now shows for the first time that green electricity may have briefly touched and slightly surpassed 100% yesterday.
Does nuclear help the integration of renewables?
By
Craig Morris
French nuclear therefore does not facilitate the integration of wind and solar in neighboring countries. Rather, it clogs up the grid and reduces flexibility.
