- Macron says EIB funding should extend to nuclear technologies
- Energy ministers call for greater cooperation between nations
Ania Nussbaum and John Ainger, Bloomberg News
PARIS/BRUSSELS
EnergiesNet.com 03 02 2023
France wants Europe’s nuclear industry to be recognized as a key force that can help the continent compete with the US and China.
President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to build at least six new reactors in his country and put them into service from 2035. On Tuesday, he called for the European Investment Bank to fund “all low-carbon technologies available, including nuclear,” according to a transcript of his remarks.
The Luxembourg-based bank, which is the lending arm of the EU, has been trying to steer clear of hotly-debated proposals to provide a green label to some nuclear projects. France, meanwhile — which gets most of its electricity from atomic reactors — is spearheading a push to recognize nuclear power as a force to meet climate goals.
The country’s energy transition minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, held a meeting in Stockholm on Tuesday with a dozen of her more like-minded European counterparts in an attempt to push for nuclear power to be recognized by legislation as a tool to lower the bloc’s emissions.
The countries called for more cooperation between their nuclear sectors in a joint statement published after the meeting. They also insisted nuclear power was important to lower emissions and increase energy security.
Low electricity prices “are key for the competitiveness of our industries,” Pannier-Runacher told reporters after the meeting. “It’s one of the responses to the IRA,” she added, referring to the US Inflation Reduction Act, a law that promotes greener technologies. “The US and Chinese electrical networks aren’t as resilient” as Europe’s.
The EU Commission is set to introduce its proposal to reform the electricity market in mid-March in a bid to lower prices for consumers, who have been squeezed by high inflation. France, which gets most of its electricity from atomic reactors, is advocating long-term contracts with guaranteed prices for nuclear power.
Paris’ push to recognize nuclear power as a force to meet climate goals has been met with skepticism in Berlin, but France recently succeeded in obtaining a carve-out from Brussels for renewable hydrogen made in countries with a low-carbon energy mix, including nuclear. For “green investments,” France has already reached a compromise with Germany to allow nuclear energy and natural gas to receive funding from environmental investors.
The next battleground is a definition of “green hydrogen” in an EU directive known as RED3, which would set targets for using the fuel in industry and transport. France is pushing for nuclear to be considered a clean energy source, while countries such as Spain and Germany are focusing on hydrogen derived from renewables such as wind or solar.
bloomberg.com 02 28 2023
