Nuclear tops Poland’s wish-list for EU electricity market reform

(EurActiv, 6 Feb 2023) EU countries should have “an unrestricted right” to subsidise power plants providing dispatchable electricity in case wind and solar are unavailable, according to a non-paper circulated by Warsaw ahead of EU proposals next month to reform the bloc’s electricity market rules.

“We must ensure a positive regulatory environment for investing in all zero- and low emission technologies,” says the non-paper, obtained by EURACTIV.

“Technology neutrality should be the cornerstone of the reform,” it says in reference to an EU principle stating that laws and regulations should not be biased towards or against a specific technology.

“This is especially important for nuclear power projects,” the document adds, saying this is valid both for large-scale nuclear plants and small modular reactors (SMRs), “which are characterised by high upfront capital costs and fairly long construction periods”.

France would not argue differently.

“Renewables are not the only answer to decarbonisation,” said French energy transition minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher. “Nuclear is one, too, because it provides stable low-carbon energy, which makes it possible to manage the intermittency of renewables,” she told journalists in a phone briefing on Thursday (2 February).

External link

EurActiv, 6 Feb 2023: Nuclear tops Poland’s wish-list for EU electricity market reform