The energy industry rejects the price support for nuclear power: “Effects are unpredictable”

Energy industry managing director Jukka Leskelä knock out the support of nuclear power with a price subsidy. The Minister of the Environment who will soon take over the leadership of Espoo Kai Mykkänen (kok) said on Tuesday that he supports the guaranteed price for new nuclear power construction.

The price pipe would guarantee a minimum price for the electricity produced by the nuclear power plant, and the costs would be collected from the electricity users.

“We are quite wary of starting to control a mature form of production with the price of electricity. It [tuki] could be quite long-term and unpredictable in terms of costs,” Leskelä said on Wednesday.

According to Leskelä, the market effects of such a price support could also be “difficult”.

A widow according to it is clear that market-based financing of nuclear power construction is difficult in the current situation. There is a lot of uncertainty in the electricity market and nuclear power projects, and the construction period is long.

“If you want to politically promote the construction of nuclear power, it would be worthwhile to promote it in such a way that financing during construction would be facilitated,” he says.

If other types of support are considered, its effects on other investments and the flexibility of the electricity market should be carefully investigated.

“We are really reserved about that.”

In addition to electricity price support, Mykkänen proposed government loan guarantees for the construction of power plants. In Sweden, nuclear power plants have progressed rapidly. A massive nuclear power support package, which includes both direct government funding and price support, will come into force there already in the summer.

Nuclear power construction ajava Fortum has said that those investing in green industry specifically want stable electricity production similar to nuclear power. According to Leskelkä, there may be more effective ways to ensure a steady supply of electricity.

“Promoting peak production or storage will perhaps solve those issues better than building nuclear power.”

According to the perception of the energy industry, the nuclear power subsidy has not actually been prepared in the state administration, despite Mykkänen’s speeches.

In contemplation and in the work group work, instead, there is some kind of support for ensuring the need for the peak power of electricity. This work has also progressed slowly, because there is no consensus even on the need for support.

Some operators trust that the market will take care of it. The large price fluctuation of electricity effectively creates incentives for various energy storage and consumption flexibility solutions.

If the upper end of the price fluctuation is addressed by subsidizing, for example, gas power plants that produce peak power, investments in flexibilities could become dull.

Electric was the third cheapest in Europe last year in Finland. The average price without tax was 4.6 cents per kilowatt hour. the average price has thus returned to the level before the energy crisis. However, the price varies drastically depending on the weather, I vary with the increase in production.

Electricity was cheaper than in Finland only in Sweden and Norway.

Already 95 percent of the electricity was emission-free last year. The share of actual renewable production, i.e. wind, water, solar power and biomass, rose to 56 percent. A quarter of the electricity was produced with wind power.

Last In 2018, about 1,400 megawatts of new wind power was built in Finland, and the nominal power is already over 8,200 megawatts. This year, construction will continue with another thousand megawatts, but after that the industry threatens to quiet down.

According to Leskelä, the completed projects are now waiting for consumption growth, i.e. information about industrial investments.

“There is every reason to wait for the investments to start,” says Leskelä.

At the same time, however, he states that the state leadership should really invest in industrial policy. Electricity consumption statistics tell a part about how badly Finland’s traditional industry has fared in recent years, even decades.

The use of electricity in industry has declined at a steady pace. It is not reflected in the total consumption of electricity, because the electrification of the rest of society has increased consumption elsewhere.

Correction at 1:25 p.m.: Biomass added to the list of renewables.