With nuclear energy there will be higher costs on the bill. This is what emerged yesterday during the presentation of the coalition’s report 100% Renewable Networktitled “The costs of nuclear power”. According to the study, SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) are even more expensive.
The report highlights that nuclear power is a senseless choice: with the return to the atom, the electricity bill would be more expensive, resulting in higher costs than those of renewable sources.
This is the position expressed by the coalition that drew up the study, made up of environmental and third sector associations, university professors, researchers, representatives of the business and trade union world.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the costs of generating electricity in the European Union in 2023, 2030 and 2050 are, for renewable sources, always lower than those of nuclear power. The IEA predicts a difference of as much as 120 $/MWh between nuclear and solar photovoltaic for 2023, of 100 $/MWh for 2030 and 2050. Significant differences are also observed for onshore wind (110 $/MWh in 2023 , 80 $/MWh in 2030 and 75 $/MWh in 2050) and for offshore wind (100 $/MWh in 2023, 90 $/MWh in 2030 and 2050).
Similar numbers, with slight variations, are also recorded for nuclear power produced in the United States, China or India, compared with the renewable sources available in those countries.
These differences are influenced not only by generation costs, but also by expenses related to the dismantling of nuclear power plants, the remediation of contaminated sites and the management of radioactive waste.
According to the World Energy Outlook 2024 According to the International Energy Agency, the cost of generating electricity in Europe in 2023 was $170 per megawatt hour (MWh) for nuclear power plants. In comparison, solar PV had a cost of $50/MWh, onshore wind $60/MWh, and offshore wind $70/MWh.
These differences are attributable to the following factors:
By “capacity factor” we mean the ratio between the energy actually produced by a plant in a given period of time and the theoretical maximum energy that the plant could have produced if it had continuously operated at its nominal capacity.
