PARIS, July 21 (Reuters) - French power company EDF said it might allocate half of its Reseau de Transport d'Electricite (RTE) power grid to a portfolio of assets set up to fund the dismantling of nuclear reactors.
Under a 2006 law on financing nuclear expenses, EDF must build up a portfolio of dedicated assets to meet the future costs of decommissioning nuclear power plants and storing radioactive waste.
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Britain must reform electricity markets if it is to secure the private investment needed to meet its carbon emissions targets, according to a study by KPMG.
The report, which will be published on Monday, said the British government's approach to investment in low-carbon generation was inconsistent and clearer planning was needed to show how emissions targets will be met.
Bulgaria aims to limit the cost of the Belene nuclear plant being built by Russia’s ZAO Atomstroyexport to 7 billion euros ($8.8 billion), Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said.
Borissov met today with Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov in Sofia to discuss joint energy projects including construction of the 2,000-megawatt power plant on the Danube river, natural-gas supply and the South Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Western Europe via Bulgaria.
The decision of France's AREVA to take a EUR400mn charge on its Finnish nuclear reactor project, combined with a planned French nuclear plant shutdown is hurting AREVA's bottom line.
After state-owned AREVA, the world's largest uranium miner, announced last week it would take a 400 million euros (US$491mn) charge due to cost overruns at its Finnish nuclear plant project, Standard & Poor's Monday downgraded the company to a `BBB+' rating, citing continued weakened profitability.
A £15bn international bid to harness the fusion process that powers the Sun is facing a major funding crisis. Scientists have revealed that the cost of the International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor (Iter) has trebled from its original £5bn price tag in the past three years. At the same time, financial crises have beset all the nations involved in the project.
BERLIN, Feb 12, 2010 (IPS) - The enormous technical and financial risks involved in the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants make them prohibitive for private investors, rebutting the thesis of a renaissance in nuclear energy, say several independent European studies.
The risks include high construction costs, likely long delays in building, extended periods of depreciation of equipment inherent to the construction and operation of new power plants and the lack of guarantees for prices of electricity.
Member states want a change in timetable but other investors oppose any delay to project.
One day after German utility RWE said that it was pulling out of the proposed Bulgarian nuclear power plant at Belene, Russia's state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said that it was still interested in taking a stake in the project, Russian business daily Vedomosti said on October 29.
Rosatom's interest in the plant, announced earlier by chief executive Sergey Kirienko, remained unchanged by RWE's announcement, Vedomosti quoted a company spokesperson as saying. The spokesperson did not provide further details, the newspaper said.
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) - German utility RWE AG Wednesday said it has terminated a joint venture agreement with Bulgaria's state-owned National Electricity Co., or NEK, due to problems with the financing of a nuclear power plant that was planned to be built near the town of Belene.
"We have terminated the joint venture agreement with NEK today because of problems financing the project," said Stephanie Schunck, spokeswoman for RWE's power generation unit RWE Power.
Although the information hasn’t made front page headlines yet, the biggest behind-the-scenes swarm of lobbyists is now hovering over the construction of two additional reactors at the Temelín nuclear plant. The actual deal looks "somewhat" different. The state-owned energy giant ČEZ is looking to secure five nuclear reactors: two for Temelín and another three for power plants that the energy company plans to build abroad, altogether, a contract worth CZK 500 billion. It’s a gigantic tender, the biggest in Czech history.
