SIR - I am not surprised that the Energy Minister, John Hayes said it was absolutely fantastic news that Hinckley Point nuclear power station has had its life extended until at least 2023.
With the majority of our coal-fired power stations being retired in the next few years he knows that in 2015, the year of the next general election, we could be facing a critical shortage in our electrical generating capacity.
Coal-fired power stations, even now, produce up to 40 per cent of our electricity and their precipitate carbon reduction target closure, 3000MW capacity for a start in the New Year, is an expensive and futile gesture when set against the hundreds of coal-fired power stations currently being brought on stream by India and China.
It is a policy that is going to cost every householder dear and make what little remains of our engineering industry even more uncompetitive.
A J W Naish
Ottery St Mary
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