Commodities and Futures News

Nuclear share in energy generation falls to lowest in four decades-report

2022.10.05 04:29



© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The nuclear power plant of Neckarwestheim along the Neckar river pictured amid the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Neckarwestheim, Germany, September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Timm Reichert/File Photo

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) – The share of nuclear power in global gross electricity generation fell below 10% last year to the lowest in around four decades, an industry report showed on Wednesday.

Nuclear energy generated 2,653 terawatt hours of electricity last year, accounting for 9.8% of global generation – the lowest since the 1980s, the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR) showed.

Proponents of nuclear say as a low-carbon power source it could be vital in helping countries meet climate targets, but several plants around the world are coming to the end of their life expectancies and many new ones have faced delays.

The most nuclear power in the world is generated in the United States, followed by China.

As of mid-2022, 411 reactors were operating in 33 countries, four less than a year earlier and 27 below a 2002 peak of 438.

The slow pace of new projects coming on stream has meant the average age of reactors is around 31 years old.

Out of 53 reactors under construction currently, at least half of the projects are delayed. Five new units became operational in the first half of this year, while eight closed last year.

Global investment in new nuclear construction projects last year was around $24 billion, accounting for 6.5% of total investment of $366 billion in non-hydro renewables projects.

Nuclear power is also losing ground to renewables in terms of cost as reactors are increasingly seen as less economical and slower to build.

The levelised cost of energy – which compares the total lifetime cost of building and running a plant to lifetime output – fell to $36 per megawatt hour (MWh) last year for solar photovoltaic from $359/MWh in 2009, while the cost for wind fell to $38/MWh from $135/MWh, the report showed.

However, nuclear power costs rose by 36% last year to $167/MWh from $123/MWh in 2009.



Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,392.83 1.17%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,330.74 2.24%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.04%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 248.92 2.26%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 652.06 0.10%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.38 5.50%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.4188 0.65%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.01%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.986545 7.01%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,329.60 2.10%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.205174 3.33%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 40.25 3.65%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.529306 6.43%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.06 3.37%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 3.14%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,933.05 2.60%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,109.75 1.33%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.51 0.06%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.04 2.45%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 503.32 0.28%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,327.52 2.45%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.36 1.57%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 3.07%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.53 6.63%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.45 2.07%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 95.75 2.79%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.01 5.66%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.46 3.63%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,505.39 2.24%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.143223 7.59%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.20%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.95 3.33%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.187566 5.04%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.543625 4.93%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.88 6.30%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.59 1.41%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.01%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.46 4.19%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.150704 1.57%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 505.59 0.98%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000048 1.53%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.24 1.96%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.00%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.04268 1.82%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.97 12.75%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.827335 3.53%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.63 0.29%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.46 0.28%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.33 1.88%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 53.40 3.67%