Do we really need big power plants any more?

Governments obsess about baseload energy. This is an outdated approach

"We have to secure baseload electricity," said Amber Rudd, the UK's then energy secretary in August 2015. She was arguing the case for building Hinkley Point C, a hulking great nuclear power station that the UK government wants to see built in the southwest of the country. It will be the first nuclear power plant to be commissioned in the country since 1987, and the debate about it has dragged on for 20 long years. Opponents point to its unproven design and environmentalists cry foul of nuclear's hazards. Cheerleaders talk of energy security. In September this year, the latter won. That's par for the course. Governments always look at baseload supply when they consider their energy economy a