nucleareurope highlights nuclear contribution to European energy system at Solarplaza summit
On 27 November 2024, nucleareurope Director General Yves Desbazeille gave an overview of the state of European nuclear energy, as part of a keynote presentation he gave at the Solarplaza Future Electricity Price Europe Summit taking place in Amsterdam.
In his presentation, Yves stressed that nuclear provides a secure supply of clean, affordable energy, responding to the challenges of the energy trilemma: energy security, affordability, and sustainability. He highlighted that in early November, the weather situation in northern Europe -with very little wind and sunshine – had pushed countries without nuclear energy to rely heavily on coal, while countries with large nuclear capacities such as France were able to maintain low-carbon electricity production.
“Nuclear produces electricity at full power 85 to 90% of the time, compared to less than 50% for renewables or gas” said Yves, stressing that in addition to clean baseload electricity, nuclear also produced decarbonised heat, which could support heat intensive industries, but also be used for district heating or new chemical processes.
Yves added that aiming for the Nuclear Alliance objective of 150GW of nuclear installed capacity in the EU by 2050 would further enhance these benefits, as shown in the Pathways to 2050 report, released by Compass Lexecon on behalf of nucleareurope. He noted that this objective could be achieved through long-term operation of existing reactors, as well as both large and small nuclear new build.
Detailing the findings of the report, Yves stressed that in addition to increased security of supply and faster decarbonisation, additional nuclear capacity could also help drive down EU energy prices, lead to greater residual asset value and reduce total energy system costs in the long-term.
Concluding his presentation, Yves listed key enablers in the areas of financing, skills, industrial research and EU policy which could allow the European nuclear industry to reach 150GW by 2050, thus reinforcing European energy security, sustainability, and affordability.