Headlines | News Shelling continues close to ZNPP Ukraine Nuclear safety
Director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, in his 8 March statement Update 215 concerning the situation in Ukraine, reported his meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin as part of the IAEA’s continuing efforts to help prevent a nuclear or radiological accident during the present conflict.
Mr Grossi said the meeting, on 6 March, was “professional and frank”, with the discussions focused on the paramount importance of reducing the still significant nuclear safety and security risks at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine, under Russian control for the past two years.
It was their second meeting, following one in Saint Petersburg in October 2022, and it took place a month after Mr Grossi on 7 February crossed the frontline to travel to the ZNPP for the fourth time during the war. On
the way to the plant, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. “As I have repeatedly stated, I must talk to both sides to help reduce the danger of a potentially severe nuclear accident that would recognise no borders. No one stands to gain from a nuclear disaster, and we must do everything possible to prevent it. This was also my message to President Putin and other senior Russian officials this week,” the DG said after his meetings in the Russian town of Sochi. He also reiterated his call for maximum military restraint and strict observance of the five concrete principles established at the United Nations Security Council on 30 May 2023.
Military activity
IAEA experts stationed at the ZNPP site have continued to hear explosions and other indications of military activity not far away from the facility. Three times during the week of
4 March they reported hearing several successive explosions within a few minutes, as well as one explosion on 7 March and multiple explosions on 8 March, possibly indicating the use of heavy weapons from an area close by. On 1 March, the IAEA experts heard an explosion some distance away from the ZNPP. The following morning, the team was informed by the plant that there had been shelling in parkland a few hundred metres away from the city hall administrative building of the town of Enerhodar, where many plant staff live. Further underlining the fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the ZNPP, the plant remains without back-up external power after the only remaining 330 kV line was disconnected on 20 February. As a result, the ZNPP remains dependent on its only functioning 750 kV power line, out of four such lines available before the war. The IAEA team has informed that the 330 kV line is not expected to be reconnected before 15 March.
R-R supplies large-scale storage to the Latvian grid
Latvia Energy storage Rolls-Royce has received an order from the Latvian transmission system operator Augstsprieguma tikls (AST) to supply an mtu large-scale battery storage system to help secure the stability of the Latvian power grid. In 2025, Latvia, together with the other Baltic states, will synchronise its energy supply system with the continental European power grid. Dr Jörg Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems commented: “Our battery solutions, which belong to our strategic business fields, make a sustainable and reliable contribution to energy security worldwide. The facility for Latvia will be our largest battery storage system to date.”
Rolls-Royce will supply an mtu EnergyPack QG large-scale battery storage system with an output of 80 MW and a storage capacity of 160 MWh. This makes the system one of the largest battery storage systems in the EU. The order also includes general contractor services as well as installation and commissioning. The battery system will be used as of autumn 2025 at two locations – a 20 MW/40 MWh battery storage at the AST substation in Tume and a 60 MW/120 MWh battery storage at the AST substation in Rezekne. The battery system, described by its maker as ‘state-of-the-art’ will provide the fast and automatically activated frequency regulation reserves needed for
Above: Rendition of mtu EnergyPack storage
the synchronisation mode. The battery system, says R–R will provide the power reserves at significantly lower costs than the existing conventional power plants. Rolls-Royce and AST have signed a 5-year long-term service agreement for the system.
UK government proposes a new ‘dash for gas’ UK Energy policy
The UK government “will stand with you as you build new gas fired power stations,” Claire Coutinho MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced to developers in a speech at the Chatham House think tank on 12 March. She said “investors should be ready too.” Ms Coutinho said, “We need to make use of the main flexible power source we have – gas” as DESNZ published a wide-ranging Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA). There is general consensus that GB will require gas fired stations until at least 2035 – the system operator estimates 25-27GW will
be required and a National Infrastructure Commission analysis estimates 22-28GW. The REMA consultation said: “Based on retirement rates for our gas power stations, we believe delivering this level of unabated gas capacity would mean building some new gas projects.” The consultation proposes to refine an existing mechanism designed to bring forward new gas stations – the Capacity Mechanism (CM), which in fact has seen higher prices to support new-build in this year’s auction for delivery in 2028, as concern rises around potential capacity shortages towards 2030. The CM has been largely ‘technology agnostic’, but DESNZ now proposes to set some ‘minimum
procurement targets’ for specific technologies within its auction, allowing for multiple clearing prices. This will allow it to favour characteristics of gas-fired plant, such as the speed at which assets can respond to signals and the ability to sustain capacity over a prolonged period. After a consultation last year the government said CM participants with multi-year agreements running beyond 2034 would have to meet tighter emissions limits, which would limit gas peaking plants to 750 hours per year. Now the government has pushed back the earliest date that would be imposed, from the 2024 auction (delivery in 2028) to the 2026 auction (delivery in 2030).
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