Attaining net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require financing and developing significant capacity of new nuclear power generation in the coming years and decades. To facilitate this process, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Poland launched the NEA-IFNEC Financing Initiative in late 2020, and organised a series of joint webinars on conceptual and practical issues pertaining to nuclear new build financing. The Warsaw Conference on Nuclear Financing concluded the series and bring together policy makers, finance industry representatives, and nuclear financing experts for in-person discussions in Warsaw, Poland.

Based on the insights developed during this initiative, the NEA has prepared a report entitled New Perspectives for Financing Nuclear New Build. Financing New Nuclear Power Plants: Minimising the Cost of Capital by Optimising Risk Management which combines new work on the relationship between optimal risk allocation and nuclear financing in low-carbon energy systems. Key insights from the report were discussed during the conference.

Watch the conference

9:30-10:00 High-level remarks

• Anna Moskwa, Minister of Climate and Environment, Poland
• William D. Magwood, IV, NEA Director-General
• Aleshia Duncan, Chair, IFNEC

10:00-11:15 Session 1 - Financing models for nuclear new build: Lessons learnt from recent projects

This session will discuss a series of case studies of financing models for nuclear new build based on recent and ongoing projects. The session will focus on the lessons learnt about project governance, the role of government policy support measures, as well as risk allocation and mitigation strategies.

Presentation: Michel Berthélemy, Nuclear Energy Analyst, NEA

Roundtable discussion:

• Lauri Piekkari, Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Risk Management of TVO, Finland
• Joe Rippon, Sizewell C Financing Programme Manager, EDF Energy, United Kingdom
• Mihai Darie, Romania Country Manager, Last Energy, United States
• Kalev Kallemets, Chief Executive Officer, Fermi Energia, Estonia

Moderator: Emma Wong, Consultant, NEA

11:15-11:45 Coffee break

11:45-13:15 Session 2 - Optimal risk allocation in a low-carbon world and what it means for nuclear finance: The NEA nuclear financing study

This session will focus on the presentation of the new NEA report entitled Financing New Nuclear Power Plants: Minimising the Cost of Capital by Optimising Risk Management, followed by a roundtable discussion on the key findings of the study.

Presentation: Jan Horst Keppler, Chief Energy Economist, NEA

Roundtable Discussion:

• Bożena Horbaczewska, Assistant Professor of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics
• John Parsons, Deputy Director for Research, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
• Benoît Peluchon, Senior Researcher, EDF, France
• Łukasz Sawicki, Chief Expert for Strategy and Economic Analyses of the Nuclear Sector, Department of Nuclear Energy, Ministry of Climate and Environment, Poland

Moderator: Paul Murphy, Managing Director, Murphy Energy & Infrastructure Consulting, LLC

13:15-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:45 Session 3 - Leveraging public and private financing for nuclear new build projects

This session will discuss key challenges and opportunities for nuclear new build financing in OECD and NEA economies. This will include a discussion on the roles of different sources of public and private financing as well as the importance of key policy frameworks, such as the role of ESG and taxonomies.

Introductory keynote: Tim Stone, Chairman, Nuclear Industry Association, United Kingdom

Roundtable discussion:

• Anne Crepin, Deputy Head, Export Finance Department, SFIL, France
• Daniel Dean, Chairman, Implementation Organization Strategic Advisory Group, International Bank for Nuclear Infrastructure
• Anurag Gupta, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Sequoia Investment Management, United Kingdom
• Hyunshik Hwang, Director of Infrastructure Finance Department, Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank)
• Ashok Pasricha, Managing Director, Engineering and Environment Division, Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)

Moderator: Milt Caplan, President, MZConsulting, Canada

15:45-16:15 Coffee break

16:15-17:30 Session 4 - Policy frameworks to enable investments in nuclear new build in Europe

This session will conclude the conference with a high-level discussion on the policy frameworks to enable investments in nuclear new build in Europe, both at the national and the European Union levels.

Roundtable discussion:

• Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Climate and Environment, Poland
• Tomáš Ehler, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic
• Gerhard Wächter, Senior Advisor for EURATOM Co-ordination, Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
• Chris Heffer, Director, Nuclear Power and Decommissioning, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, United Kingdom
• Aleshia Duncan, Chair, IFNEC

Moderator: Yves Desbazeille, Director General, Nuclear Europe

17:30   Cocktail reception

Interested participants are invited to join a sightseeing tour to the Royal Castle in Warsaw which will take place at 11:00 CET on 9 December.

OECD Nuclear Energy Agency

International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC)

Ministry of Climate and Environment - Republic of Poland

With the support of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (Republic of Poland).

NEA-IFNEC Financing Initiative - past events

• High-Level Warsaw Conference on Nuclear Financing
• Contractual Structures and Incentives in Nuclear New Build
• Taxonomies, ESGs and the role of nuclear energy
• The Financing of SMRs, Challenges and Opportunities
• Issues in the Financing of Nuclear New Build - Day 1
• Issues in the Financing of Nuclear New Build - Day 2
• NEA–IFNEC kick-off workshop: Issues in the financing of nuclear new build