S&P Report on nuclear resurgence

S&P Global: "A multidimensional nuclear resurgence: Differing drivers and challenges

S&P Global has released a new report examining the growing interest in nuclear energy as the solution to many of the problems the energy sector faces. The report, “A multidimensional nuclear resurgence: Differing drivers and challenges,” contrasts developments in the American, European, and Chinese investment in and construction of new nuclear energy technologies and infrastructure. The motivator for those differing investments is the same across the market, though: a sharp rise in the demand for energy, energy security and scalability, in the midst of growing electrification driven by the AI-boom and commitments to the decarbonization of power sources.

“As the world grapples with climate change and energy security challenges alongside steepening AI-related load forecasts, nuclear power is experiencing a global resurgence in interest,” said Emmanuel Dubois-Pelerin, EMEA utilities managing director at S&P Global Ratings and one of the report's authors.

[Click here to read the full report on the S&P website: “A multidimensional nuclear resurgence: Differing drivers and challenges.”]

Published by Nucleation Capital in REPORTS

July 6, 2022

EU Taxonomy to Include Nuclear Energy

The EU Parliament ruled in a majority vote to keep nuclear energy in the Complementary Delegated Act for the EU's sustainable Taxonomy. Set to enter into force on January 1, 2023, the Taxonomy Delegated Act will allow nuclear and natural gas-fired power plants to be marketed as green investments on financial markets.

278 MEPs voted against giving green labels to nuclear and gas but this number fell short of the absolute majority of 353 MEPs that were needed to veto the Commission’s proposal.

Inthe newly approved EU taxonomy, new nuclear and gas-fired plants built through 2030 will be recognised as a "transitional energy source" as long as they replace dirtier fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

Gas projects are required to keep direct emissions are kept under a maximum cap and they switch to fully renewable energy by 2035.

Nuclear power may be funded so long as they commit to switch to accident-tolerant fuels by 2025. Additionally, nuclear power must adhere to certain standards for the disposal of radioactive waste.

There were months of heated debate over a whether or not to include nuclear and gas in a rating regime that influences choices of direct investment in clean energy for the next decade, with the goal or reaching net-zero by 2050.

The EU Commissioners devised their plan as a compromise between pro-nuclear French and anti-nuclear, pro-gas German contingents by coupling gas and nuclear together, which left MEPs with no choice but to vote for both or none.

Which means that nuclear power plants, which do not emit greenhouse gases are forced to get negative billing, by being paired with natural gas, which does emit greenhouse gas emissions. However, since there is inadequate alternatives, gas poses a better choice than coal, as it is slightly less polluting than coal and is being relied upon increasingly as a transitional fuel.

Read more at Earth.org: Gas and Nuclear Turn Green as EU Parliament Approves New Taxonomy, published July 7, 2022, by Martina Igini and NEI, "EU Taxonomy to Include Nuclear Energy, Recognizing Its Role in Global Decarbonization" published July 6, 2022.

In a follow-up article published July 19, 2022 in Bloomberg entitled Once-Unthinkable Nuclear Green Bonds Are Coming to Europe, Greg Ritchie and Ronan Martin describe EDF's plan to distinguish nuclear issuance from ‘classic’ bonds but shows how, by virtue of qualifying activities could be a true game-changer for clean energy.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Climate policy, Corporate decarbonization, Energy abundance, Future of Energy, Government support, History-making, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear financing, Nuclear-inclusive energy policy, Politicians supporting nuclear, Solving climate, Zero emission energy

November 5, 2021

A plan to convert coal-fired power plants to advanced nuclear—efficiently

Bryden Wood has revealed plans to repurpose the world’s coal-fired power stations to house modular nuclear reactors as part of a ‘major initiative’ to decarbonize the energy sector. "Repurposing Coal" is a proposal drawn up in collaboration with Terra Praxis, a non-profit organization focused on action for climate and energy, along with experts from MIT, the University at Buffalo, Microsoft and KPMG.

Unveiled at COP26 in Glasgow, the strategy sets out how coal-fired boilers at existing power plants could be replaced with Advanced Heat Sources (Generation IV Advanced Modular Reactors) to deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and to do so eliminating the emissions that have come from coal power, which amount to almost 45% of the global annual emissions.

The collaboration is focused on creating a platform solution that enables plant conversions at scale by "transforming how projects of this kinds are financed, designed, approved and delivered."

Bryden Wood founder Martin Wood said: ‘Instead of thousands of individual projects, we must have a unified approach where the design is simplified and standardised so that a much wider pool of designers, manufacturers and contractors can be involved to make this a reality as quickly as possible.’

To achieve this approach, the group has sought to standardize and optimize the following key elements:

- All processes including procurement, investment and environmental approvals
- Building and engineering systems
- Design, manufacture, assembly and operation
- Interactions between different supply chain organizations.

Read more about this plan at Architects Journal Bryden Wood Reveals Plan to convert coal-fired power stations to nuclear, by Richard Waite, published November 5, 2021.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Construction costs, Energy abundance, Future of Energy, History-making, Land Use by Energy, LINKS, Nuclear innovation, Reduced ecosystem impacts, Solving climate, Zero emission energy