Latest news with #LarsAagaard
CNBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Why Europe is pivoting back to nuclear — one of its most divisive energy sources
A European-wide shift to nuclear power appears to be gathering momentum as countries hedge their bets in pursuit of more energy independence. In just the last few weeks, Denmark announced plans to reconsider a 40-year ban on nuclear power as part of a major policy shift, Spain reportedly signaled an openness to review a shutdown of its nuclear plants and Germany dropped its long-held opposition to atomic power. The renewed European interest in nuclear shows how some countries are hedging their bets in pursuit of more energy independence. The burgeoning trend appears to be driven, at least in part, by some of the costs associated with renewables, notably solar and wind technologies. "Solar and wind are still the cheapest and fastest way to drive the green transition, and that remains our focus. But we also need to understand whether new nuclear technologies can play a supporting role," Lars Aagaard, Denmark's minister for climate, energy and utilities, told CNBC via email. The renewables-heavy Scandinavian country said in mid-May that it plans to analyze the potential benefits and risks of new advanced nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors, to complement solar and wind technologies. Denmark's government, which banned the use of atomic energy in 1985, added that it does not plan a return to traditional nuclear power plants. "We have no recent experience with nuclear power, and we lack the necessary knowledge regarding safety and waste management. That's why we must begin a serious analysis — not to replace solar and wind, but to see whether new nuclear can complement our energy system in the future," Aagaard said. Georg Zachmann, senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank, said nuclear power remains the most divisive electricity generation technology in Europe. "Thereby, the renaissance of nuclear in the political discourse is somewhat surprising, given that the cost of main competing technologies, new wind and solar plants, have dropped by more than 80 percent, while those of nuclear plants have rather increased," Zachmann said. The so-called "hidden cost" of balancing and transporting electricity from renewables has been increasing with rising shares of wind and solar generation, Zachmann said, noting that this theme has recently become more apparent. Spain signaled its openness to atomic energy late last month. In an interview reported by Bloomberg, Spanish Environmental Transition Minister Sara Aagesen said that while the government is proceeding with plans to retire nuclear energy reactors over the next decade, extensions beyond 2035 could not be ruled out. Aagsen said at the time that the government was not considering anything, and no specific proposals had yet been tabled. Widely regarded as anti-nuclear power, the southern European country has been mired in a blackout blame game over green energy in recent weeks. It follows a catastrophic power outage affecting much of Spain, Portugal and the south of France. Some external observers have flagged renewables and net-zero emissions targets as possible reasons for the outage, particularly given Spain and Portugal both rely on high levels of wind and solar for their electricity grid. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the country's grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE), however, have both said record levels of renewable energy were not at fault for the blackout. Germany, which closed the last of its three remaining nuclear plants in 2023, recently scrapped its opposition to nuclear power in what marked a rapprochement with France. Led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the newly elected government was said to have dropped its objection to French efforts to ensure that nuclear power is treated on a par with renewables in EU legislation, the Financial Times reported on May 19, citing French and German officials. Spokespeople for France and Germany's respective governments were not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC. As it is low-carbon, advocates argue that nuclear power has the potential to play a significant role in helping countries generate electricity while slashing emissions and reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. Some environmental groups, however, say the nuclear industry is an expensive and harmful distraction to cheaper and cleaner alternatives. Bruegel's Zachmann said the ability of fully depreciated nuclear power plants to continue operating much beyond their lifetime, as well as the "highly uncertain" hope that next-generation small modular reactors "can be built very cheaply captures the imagination of industry and policymakers." In all likelihood, Zachmann said "new nuclear power plants will remain difficult to finance and will at very best only pay off in decades. In the meantime, the discussion whether to prefer nuclear or renewables only helps natural gas — that continues to be burnt as long as investments in clean electricity do not happen at scale." Data published by energy think tank Ember found that the EU's electricity system continued a rapid shift toward renewables in the first half of last year. Indeed, wind and solar power rose to record highs over the six-month period, reaching a share of 30% of the bloc's electricity generation and overtaking fossil fuels for the first time. Alongside renewables growth, Ember said at the time that nuclear generation across the EU increased by 3.1%.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Denmark plans offshore wind tender with up to $8.3 billion subsidy
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark will launch an offshore wind tender with a capacity of three gigawatt (GW), enough to power three million homes, its energy ministry said on Monday, offering subsidies to developers of up to 55.2 billion Danish crowns ($8.32 billion). The offshore wind industry has grappled with skyrocketing costs, higher interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks, prompting governments to halt or postpone tenders due to a lack of interest from bidders. "We need more secure green power and energy to make Denmark and Europe independent of energy from Russia," Energy Minister Lars Aagaard said in a statement. The bids offered in the tender will determine the level of subsidy needed, with a cap set at 55.2 billion crowns over 20 years. "It is the bid price and the development of electricity prices that determine whether it will be necessary to support the projects, or whether money will come to the state," the ministry said. Denmark in January announced it would halt all ongoing offshore wind tenders to revamp its model, saying that a framework where no subsidies were offered did not work under existing market conditions. A month earlier, the Nordic country had failed to attract any bids in its biggest offshore wind tender yet, with analysts pointing to a rigid auction model and a failure to adapt to a changed economic reality for renewable energy projects. Denmark has been a pioneer in both onshore and offshore wind, and is home to turbine maker Vestas and the world's largest offshore wind developer Orsted. ($1 = 6.6318 Danish crowns) Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Denmark plans offshore wind tender with up to $8.3 bln subsidy
COPENHAGEN, May 19 (Reuters) - Denmark will launch an offshore wind tender with a capacity of three gigawatt (GW), enough to power three million homes, its energy ministry said on Monday, offering subsidies to developers of up to 55.2 billion Danish crowns ($8.32 billion). The offshore wind industry has grappled with skyrocketing costs, higher interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks, prompting governments to halt or postpone tenders due to a lack of interest from bidders. "We need more secure green power and energy to make Denmark and Europe independent of energy from Russia," Energy Minister Lars Aagaard said in a statement. The bids offered in the tender will determine the level of subsidy needed, with a cap set at 55.2 billion crowns over 20 years. "It is the bid price and the development of electricity prices that determine whether it will be necessary to support the projects, or whether money will come to the state," the ministry said. Denmark in January announced it would halt all ongoing offshore wind tenders to revamp its model, saying that a framework where no subsidies were offered did not work under existing market conditions. A month earlier, the Nordic country had failed to attract any bids in its biggest offshore wind tender yet, with analysts pointing to a rigid auction model and a failure to adapt to a changed economic reality for renewable energy projects. Denmark has been a pioneer in both onshore and offshore wind, and is home to turbine maker Vestas ( opens new tab and the world's largest offshore wind developer Orsted ( opens new tab. ($1 = 6.6318 Danish crowns)
Sky News AU
17-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
A plan too grand: The massive tactical mistakes the Liberal Party made on its landmark nuclear policy that led to crushing election defeat
Peter Dutton's crushing defeat at the election dramatically changed the composition of the parliament, but it didn't change the laws of physics. The Liberal Party cannot walk away from its commitment to nuclear unless it is willing to make the case for keeping coal. The objective facts remain. The engineering challenge of powering a grid on weather-dependent energy sources is overwhelming. Batteries and pumped hydro are band-aid solutions to the problem of intermittency, but they are storage devices, not generators. The finances don't stack up without subsidies and favourable regulations. New power lines are expensive, ugly and storm prone. Wind and solar plants require vast areas of land and damage ecosystems. A renewable energy-only policy would be a sour joke unless the Coalition can solve these and other challenges. It would ignore the experience around the world where policymakers are realising that engineering challenges cannot be wished away. Spain's recent blackout shows what happens when a grid without conventional inertia suffers a fault. A system dominated by solar and wind is complex to restart, so it took longer to restore power in Spain than in Portugal, which has abundant hydro generation and a large amount of gas. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has approved the construction of ten nuclear power stations as part of its aggressive clean energy expansion over the next 15 years. On Tuesday, the Danish Energy Minister Lars Aagaard told the newspaper Politiken that the centrist coalition was considering lifting a 40-year-old ban on nuclear power. The Norwegian government has established a commission to examine nuclear power. Serbia lifted its ban on nuclear power last November, and a feasibility study for building the country's first reactors is almost complete. Israel is considering a proposal to build the country's first commercial nuclear power station 40 km southwest of Beersheba in the Negev Desert. Google has signed an agreement with Elementl Power, a developer of nuclear power projects, to commit funding for three nuclear generators, each with 600 MW of generation capacity. Nuclear technology is developing quickly. Last week, the Ontario Power Group received approval for the country's first small modular reactor, and a test plant is being built in Finland. A transportable micro-reactor is being developed in Canada. What a contrast to Australia, where the government's favourite future technology, green hydrogen, is no nearer to commercial development than it was three years ago. In post-truth politics, facts from abroad don't always register at home. Today, as Humpty Dumpty says in Through the Looking Glass: "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean". It is not easy to be a conviction politician in an era where energy policy is shaped by focus groups and getting through the next election is all that seems to matter. Mr Dutton thought differently. As he told viewers in the final leaders' debate: "I haven't committed to nuclear energy for votes. I committed to it because it's in the best interests of our country." Mr Dutton could not find the pub-ready arguments for nuclear energy, but his successor must. Otherwise, the Party risks surrendering to the post-truth tide of emotional narratives and manipulated facts. The Energy Minister's claim that baseload power can be supplied by low-density, intermittent renewables like wind and solar is environmental happy talk. There is no empirical evidence to support it. Yet the Liberal Party is urged to follow this untested path by abandoning the only proven clean energy technology. The weight of evidence in nuclear's favour makes the Coalition's failure to win the policy debate all the more bemusing. We can bellyache about Labor's lies, but the bottom line is that the Coalition arrived at the election without persuasive, put-ready arguments. Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien has spent the last three years researching nuclear power in great detail. He undoubtedly outperformed Energy Minister Chris Bowen in one-on-one policy debates and more than held his own in hostile forums like ABC's Q and A. With hindsight, however, the Dutton Opposition made four tactical mistakes. Its attempt to present a grand national plan for seven nuclear generators magnified the challenges and allowed opponents to magnify the cost. The revised nuclear proposal that should be presented at the next election must focus on overcoming the first hurdle: removing the moratorium. The case should be inarguable. What objection can there be to a level playing field on which nuclear energy will compete with other sources? A technology-agnostic policy in a competitive market will allow engineers and capital markets to decide if nuclear energy stacks up. Second, the Liberals were hesitant about costs. It was unprepared to do what Labor did and pick a figure out of the air, knowing that accurate forecasts are impossible to make. The solution was to spread the risk. A utility market must always be regulated, but that doesn't mean the government has to do everything. Various forms of private-public partnerships have been successful in Finland, the US and elsewhere. The Coalition's third tactical mistake was to play it safe on renewable energy. It failed to expose the flaws in the government's policy, including the cost. The arguments for nuclear should have begun by establishing the need for a plan B. The singular focus on nuclear energy conveyed the strong impression that nuclear energy is the cure for all our energy woes, which it is not. Its final tactical mistake was not to hammer home the vital role of gas, without which our energy system cannot survive in its current form, saturated with intermittent energy. Gas is far from ideal as a source of baseload power, but generators are relatively quick to build, and Australia has gas in abundance. A committed government would fast-track gas projects right now and incentivise investors by including gas in the capacity market. The incoming Labor government, meanwhile, seems set to amplify its first-term mistakes by increasing its emissions reduction target for 2035, even though there is little hope it can meet its 2030 target. Consumers and businesses should prepare for a rough ride. However unfit for purpose our energy system is now, we know it will be much worse by 2028. By then the arguments for nuclear power will write themselves. Nick Cater is senior fellow at Menzies Research Centre and a regular contributor to Sky News Australia
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Denmark may end 40-year nuclear ban for power mix
The government will start an analysis of the benefits, risks and potential of using nuclear reactors to supplement the dominant wind and solar energy in Denmark, Lars Aagaard said in parliament this week. He responded to several lawmakers questioning future energy demands following a report earlier in the week by local newspaper Politiken revealing the government's plans. 'We all know that of course we can't have an electricity system based on solar and wind alone – there has to be something else to support it,' he said. 'In case it is decided to lift the ban, what will that require of Danish society? We need to have that overview.' At stake is Denmark's plan to become carbon neutral by 2045 while managing a rapidly growing demand for electricity. The country currently gets about 80pc of its energy from renewable sources that also include biomass. At the same time, the wind energy sector is struggling, as it faces challenges from higher costs and the latest political shift in the US. Adding nuclear power to the nation's power mix would break with a ban dating to 1985. The law was introduced back then to appease strong public opposition to atomic generation, environmental concerns and a political consensus to focus on green energy, particularly wind power. Danish resistance to nuclear was so embedded that it caused a high-level diplomatic rift when neighbouring Sweden in the 1970s built reactors located across the sea from Copenhagen. Advances in nuclear technology and a stronger focus on energy security have recently strengthened the debate about introducing nuclear power in Denmark. An opinion poll published in January showed 55pc of Danes favour ending the nuclear ban, compared with 46pc in 2022. Now only 27pc want to keep it. Sweden is also planning to reintroduce investments in nuclear power, and in 2023 Finland brought online a 1,600-megawatt reactor that was then Europe's biggest. Aagaard ruled out the idea of conventional nuclear power plants, but said he's instead looking toward new technologies such as small modular reactors. 'It's also a positive aspect that there may be some business opportunities linked to this technology,' he said.
