ALEX BRUMMER: Setbacks for Britain’s green future

Britain’s dreams of being a world leader in greener energy are quickly evaporating. Successive Tory governments, for all the rhetorical enthusiasm, have so far failed miserably to embrace technology for a more nuclear future.

And plans to challenge Germany, China and others by building mega-factories to produce battery cells for electric cars were abruptly halted when Blyth-based Britishvolt went into administration.

British nuclear engineer Newcleo tells the Mail it has decided to abandon government support for the proposed project after endless delays in selecting a suitable site amid the Downing Street revolving door.

Instead, CEO Stefano Buono plans to build the prototype of the company’s nuclear power plant in France.

There is a friendly attitude towards nuclear power generation in Paris, where President Macron has taken Electricite de France (EDF) back into public ownership.

Despite former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s enthusiastic public support for new nuclear power, as just reiterated in the House of Commons, very little has happened.

Before leaving office, former Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East was critical of the failure of successive Tory governments to back the company’s proposals for a fleet of small modular reactors (SMRs), based on proven turbine technology.

Around £200 million in support for the research and development phase has been promised, but how much funding has been provided is uncertain.

In any event, such a level of support for a potential multibillion-dollar project, with huge export potential, is hardly representative of the kind of initiative the UK has shown in the past when it became the first country in the world to pioneer a commercial nuclear power station at Calder Hall in Cumbria in 1956.

Newcleo and Rolls-Royce are not the first potential nuclear investors to feel let down by British authorities.

Japan’s Hitachi believed it had the support for a new build at Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey, but abandoned the project in September 2020 when the government withdrew support.

The move caused frustration in Tokyo and at Hitachi, which has record inward investment in the UK.

There is a possibility that Hitachi, in partnership with US industrial giant GEC, could launch its own new generation of SMRs to beat Rolls-Royce.

At present, the only new nuclear power plant being built is the super reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset by EDF with support from China.

EDF is also the cornerstone investor and developer of the proposed £20bn Sizewell C plant in Suffolk, although final government approval is awaited.

Britain urgently needs new nuclear power stations as its existing aging fleet goes offline.

As the country charts a greener future based on wind, solar and possibly tidal power (still unproven), it needs a reliable base load to keep the lights on when the wind isn’t blowing.

The collapse of the Britishvolt project and a nuclear gridlock show how difficult it will be to achieve Britain’s goal of creating a carbon neutral future.

Leaking roof

Anyone reading the press release of the latest results from Matthew Molding’s online health and beauty pioneer THG might think that the 2022 trade has been an unqualified success.

It highlights a record turnover of £2.25bn and suggests expected earnings are in line with market expectations.

Could be. But the reality is quite different. The company announced that it now expects profits for the year to be £80 million, well below the £100 million to £130 million it forecast a few months ago.

If this was in line with market expectations, it’s hard to fathom why the company’s shares plummeted 21.4 per cent to 53.84p, a third of its peak price of 184p over the past 12 months.

How wonderful it would be if THG became a Manchester-based Amazon.

A little more credibility in what it has to say might help.

Sweet place

Johnnie Walker liquor champion Diageo develops a taste for rum after success with Captain Morgan.

Instead of looking to the Caribbean, it’s heading all the way to the Philippines, where it’s paying a whopping £342 million to pick up sugarcane-based luxury brand Don Papa.

From single malts in Texas to gin distillers in California, the world has become the new knighted Ivan Menezes’ oyster.