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According to the report, which examines the potential for fusion in the UK, the government has estimated the 2040 levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) for the UK for standalone offshore wind, onshore wind and large-scale solar of £40/MWh, £44/MWh and £33/MWh respectively.
The £60-£70/MWh cost for fusion “provides the first target for nuclear fusion to be economically competitive”, the report concludes. It says fusion is uncompetitive today with other low-carbon options available in the UK – including wind and light-water nuclear fission reactors. The reason for this is the combination of a relatively high construction cost (£5,887/kWe) and a low capacity factor (56%).
The International Energy Agency has put the LCOE for advanced nuclear at $63/MWh (about £45/MWh).
With an improved, large fusion design the construction cost decreases to £4,135/kWe and the capacity factor to 75%. These two effects improve the fusion economics, decreasing the LCOE into the range £60 to £97/MWh. For a small fusion design, the energy cost of 75 units is in the region of £69- £99/MWh – a range that is comparable to 10 units of large fusion reactors and also the energy cost of LWR fission reactors.
- Source: Nucnet
- Date: Saturday, 23 October 2021
- Original article: nucnet.org/news/capital-costs-are-high-but-can-be-reduced-to-economically-competitive-level-10-4-2021
It is understandable that the nuclear power industry feels it has been left "in limbo" by the European Commission's taxonomy on sustainable finance, even though its low-carbon credentials are clear, an adviser to the Technical Expert Group (TEG) that developed the guidance said last week. Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, participated in the 28 July webinar-based discussion of a newly published Policy Brief by the OECD-Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), Unlocking financing for nuclear energy infrastructure in the COVID-19 economic recovery.
- Source: World Nuclear News
- Date: Tuesday, 04 August 2020
- Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/EU-Taxonomy-leaves-low-carbon-nuclear-in-limbo-adm