nucleareurope organises end-of-year workshop on business case for nuclear
On 17 December 2024, nucleareurope organised in Brussels its traditional end-of-year workshop, sponsored by MVM, and gathered industry leaders, policy makers and investors to discuss nuclear financing and the business case for nuclear.
In the opening session, Christopher Eckerberg, nucleareurope President, Attila Steiner, Hungary’s State Secretary for Energy and Climate Policy and László Fazekas, Chief Financial Officer at MVM set the scene for the event, highlighting the importance of bringing stakeholders together to share information and discuss pathways to support investments in nuclear.
Nucleareurope Director General Yves Desbazeille then took the floor to detail the economic and social benefits of nuclear investments, giving a preview of an upcoming Deloitte report on the topic. He stressed that nuclear plays a major role in supporting European competitiveness and growth, and that the industry currently sustains over a million jobs in Europe.
“The European nuclear industry is a major asset for the EU’s competitiveness, and the economic and social benefits stemming from the operation of existing capacities will extend with the growth of the sector” said Yves, adding that thanks to nuclear, Europeans can also benefit from more stable and affordable electricity prices.
Following Yves’ intervention, two panel discussions were organised, the first panel focused on making the business case for nuclear. Csaba Kiss, MVM Chief Nuclear Officer discussed current plans to expand the Paks nuclear power plant, and outlined the financial implications of this expansion. He also detailed the business case put forward by MVM to attract investments into the project. Alan Woods, Strategy and Business Development Director for Rolls Royce SMR then gave insights into the financing of SMR projects, and the required financial enablers to get the technology off the ground. Concluding the session, Massimiliano Tacconelli, Nuclear Vice-President and Big Science Director at Walter Tosto discussed the Italian nuclear supply chain, he highlighted that even though Italy does not currently have any nuclear power plants, the country does have an important nuclear supply chain, and outlined financing needs to support its development.
The second panel session focused on nuclear financing enablers, André Autrand, CEO and Board Member at the Belgian Infrastructure Fund opened the discussion by outlining the main elements considered by financial stakeholders when they decide to invest in large infrastructure projects. Stefano Soro, Head of Unit for Net Zero Industries, Sustainable and Circular Products, at the European Commission’s DG GROW then shared some insights into the Commission’s plans to support the deployment of net-zero technologies, and detailed the financing challenges for capital intensive projects such as nuclear. Ximena Vásquez-Maignan, Legal Counsel at White & Case LLP concluded the session by detailing pathways to leverage investments in new nuclear projects.
As a conclusion to the workshop, Massimo Garribba, Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s DG Energy, and Christopher Eckerbeg summarized the key takeaways from the discussions, and noted the benefits of industry, policymakers and investors working together to develop solutions to overcome potential financing challenges for new nuclear.