Institution's response to the National Infrastructure Assessment

Matt Rooney, Engineering Policy Adviser at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, comments on the National Infrastructure Assessment.

“The worldwide fall in the cost of wind turbines and solar panels is to be celebrated and we support an energy market that will allow higher penetrations of these clean energy technologies in our system. Indeed, the Government should stop putting up barriers to the construction of new onshore wind and solar farms.

However, we disagree with the National Infrastructure Commission’s assessment that no more nuclear power is likely to be required after Hinkley Point C. The NIC report itself highlights the uncertainty in any modelling that projects decades into the future, and effectively throwing away one of the best options we have for low carbon electricity would be a mistake.

The NIC admits that ‘no country has yet built an electricity system with very high levels of variable renewables’, yet is willing to take the risk of recommending such a strategy.

Nuclear power should remain a part of our energy mix and if we do not get building soon we will lose the industry entirely and therefore the ability to build new plants. Such plants could be vital not just for electricity, but also for producing low carbon hydrogen for heat and industry in the future.”

Notes to Editors

• Contact the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Press Office on 020 7973 1261 or email media@imeche.org
• The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established in 1847 and has some of the world’s greatest engineers in its history books. It is one of the fastest growing professional engineering institutions. Headquartered in London, we have operations around the world and over 120,000 members in more than 140 countries working at the heart of the most important and dynamic industries such as the automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction industries. www.imeche.org