Less wind, more nuclear needed for UK energy future

By Kwok W. Wan

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain needs to build more nuclear reactors and cleaner coal plants while putting less emphasis on wind power if it wants a secure low-carbon future, business lobby group CBI said on Monday.

The CBI said in a report that current government policy, which favours wind power, is making energy security and climate change targets harder to achieve because it will lead to less investment in other forms of low-carbon electricity generation.

"Large chunks of our energy infrastructure urgently need replacing," deputy-director general of the CBI, John Cridland, said.

"While we have generous subsidies for wind power, we urgently need the national planning statements needed to build new nuclear plants. If we carry on like this we will end up putting too many of our energy eggs in one basket."

The CBI's "Decision Time" study, published on Monday, examined various scenarios for Britain's energy future.

The CBI said that if its recommendations were not followed, Britain's power generation would be reliant on gas-fired power stations and only 64 percent of Britain's energy would be generated by low carbon methods by 2030.

This is below the 78 percent target recommended by the Committee on Climate Change, an independent body advising the government.

The CBI said its "Balanced Pathway" plan would lead to 83 percent of Britain's energy being produced by low carbon sources. Most electricity would come from nuclear, supplying 34 percent, instead of gas, with coal fired plants fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology supplying 14 percent, the CBI said.