“When we raised our price to $90 per megawatt hour, the number drops a little bit but is still interesting because of the value nuclear brings to the overall system in terms of reliability and versatility,” True said. The group surveyed members about a $60/MWh resource and found that members would install 90 GW by 2050. Wind and solar, after about 20 years you have to replace everything.”Įven at a higher price, there is a market for SMRs, said NEI Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Doug True. Probably more, up to 100, frankly, if maintained properly. “A small modular reactor should last a minimum of 60 years. SMRs will have a longevity advantage over renewables, Albright added. The reason we pivoted was to create a design that could be cost-competitive with all forms of generation.” “The industry's focus for decades has been on large reactors, but you've seen what has occurred in terms of these projects going over budget, way past schedule. This follows their signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in late 2019. “We believe that the future of nuclear is in small modular reactors,” he said. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) has entered into a teaming agreement with Fermi Energia to support the potential deployment of its BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Estonia. GE Hitachi’s Ball called the $60/MWh cost “achievable.” GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) is a world-leading provider of advanced reactor technology, fuel and nuclear services. But, he added, “we're counting on volume, and volume is predicted. Nuclear Industry Council President and CEO Bud Albright said at the USEA event Friday. SMRs are a new technology, and “if you look at the cost of the first one that rolls off, it's going to be fairly high,” U.S. Utility-scale solar-plus-storage costs are about $45/MWh wind power costs are $30/MWh and stand-alone utility-scale solar costs are at $32/MWh, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. And that group has doubts that SMRs can be developed as cheaply as their backers claim. Meanwhile, the costs of renewables and storage are falling. subsidiary Georgia Power as the primary owner, Vogtle units 3 and 4 are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over their initial budget. eventually abandoned their South Carolina project when cost estimates topped $25 billion. Cost is a key component in the development of new nuclear resources, and critics points to recent overruns at traditional reactor projects in South Carolina and Georgia as cautionary tales amid falling renewables prices.
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