PV and storage could provide as much electricity as a proposed nuclear plant in the UK at half the subsidy cost, according to new analysis timed to coincide with expected news of a nuclear agreement between Britain and China this week.

Chinese premier Xi Jinping is in the UK this week on a state visit and is widely expected to meet with prime minister David Cameron today to discuss various trade deals, one of which is China’s investment in the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor.

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The project has been widely criticised as too expensive and not offering of value for money. At current build-price estimates of £24.5-26 billion, it would be the most expensive power generation facility in the world and has been ridiculed as a white elephant in the House of Lords.

The STA has now claimed that solar PV, if combined with storage and other flexibility mechanisms, could deliver just as much base-load generation capacity at less than half the subsidy cost that Hinkley will require over 35 years.

Read the rest of the story at PVTech.org

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