Europe / Two New Nuclear Plants Needed Every Year For 15 Years, Says Commission Vice-President

Bloc needs to support investment in reactors and streamline construction process.

Annual construction of two new commercial nuclear power reactors a year is needed over the next 15 years in Europe with the need for an alliance of industrial partners and efforts to improve the supply chain, a conference was told.

European Commission executive vice-president Maroš Šefcovic, told ‘Powering Tomorrow, Inspiring Today: Nuclear Energy 2.0’ in Brussels that he recognised the need for EU support in investment, funding, and financing due to the high costs associated with nuclear projects.

In light of these challenges, he called for streamlining construction processes, highlighting nuclear energy’s cost-effectiveness and its consistent, clean power generation capabilities.

Šefcovic, who responsible for the Green Deal, the commission’s pivotal policy initiative aimed at making the bloc’s economy climate neutral and sustainable, said Europe operates more than 150 nuclear power plants, accounting for 22% of its electricity supply. He highlighted the potential of small modular reactors and nuclear fusion for Europe's energy landscape.

The conference was jointly hosted by power companies EDF, Fortum and Vattenfall, with Euractiv as media partner.

Thierry Breton, European commissioner for the internal market, praised the qualities of nuclear energy, saying it was “once again central in the debate”.

Breton said nuclear energy is a key element for safeguarding European autonomy and industrial leadership, especially when by 2050 energy demand will double and need to be carbon neutral.

He said the EU should allow companies and investors to speed up the permitting process for new nuclear and establish nuclear technology legislation that promotes an integrated approach to research, deployment and reinforcing the market.

Nuclear ‘Should Be Bloc’s Biggest Energy Source’

The conference heard that if the commission wants to reach its carbon neutral goals, nuclear should be its biggest energy source, and Europe should “wise up and turn away from its current trajectory, where the amount of nuclear electricity production has declined in recent decades”.

A panel was told that Europe has voluntary reduced its nuclear power capacity and given technological leadership to Russia and China while it now suffers from “resource poverty”.

The EU needs to focus on facilitating the large-scale nuclear construction Europe needs by making investment easier and more available, an area where the European Investment Bank has a role to play, panellists agreed.

The panel noted that significant investment is needed for new nuclear, but nuclear power plants are not “expensive per se” because a huge amount of energy is densely concentrated, guaranteeing a long term, stable supply.

‘Lack Of Competitiveness Growing In EU’

EDF chief executive officer Luc Rémont said consumer demand should be central and that “only nuclear and hydro can produce the required, constant base load, 24/7”.

Ann Mettler, vice-president at Breakthrough Energy, an organisation established by Bill Gates, said the lack of competitiveness is growing in the EU and the future demand of energy will be much larger, noting that AI is extremely energy intensive.

“No electricity, no progress,” Mettler warned, adding that policy decisions should be less ideological as “we can't regulate ourselves to net zero”.

The panellists said there is no silver bullet and a pragmatic energy mix is needed, with ample room to manoeuvre for member states. There is no “one size fits all” solution and Brussels should not dictate this, they said.

The panel stressed the need for a level playing field and a technology neutral taxonomy, together with risk-sharing instruments, so all financial institutions would be able to invest in nuclear energy and there is fair access for investment in all net-zero technologies.