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on 12/2/24 at 12:08 PM
Realising the full contribution of nuclear energy to achieving net zero targets requires mastering the challenge of financing and constructing significant numbers of new reactors. This new NEA report shows that this entails treating the financing and the management of new nuclear construction projects as interrelated issues in the framework of electricity systems designs appropriate for the low-carbon energy transition. “Hybrid markets” will thus combine competitive short-term dispatch with centrally co-ordinated incentives for long-term investment. The benefits of nuclear energy at the level of the energy system on the one hand and the current size of nuclear construction risk on the other both argue for sharing construction risk with either taxpayers or electricity consumers. Fairness requires that benefits and responsibilities be shared equally. New forms of co-operation between the public and private sectors will thus need to ensure that effective leadership, independent project advisory and coherent incentive structures lead to the efficient construction of new nuclear capacity, which in the majority of OECD countries will be part of the low-carbon energy infrastructure of the future.
