energy
Expert: Nuclear power plants do not offer an alternative in the energy transition
Nuclear power will not be an alternative in the energy transition in the medium term. “The construction of new nuclear power plants is being delayed practically everywhere, there are huge cost overruns – and many of them are not working properly,” said expert Almut Kirchner.
Nuclear power will not be an alternative in the energy transition in the medium term. “The construction of new nuclear power plants is being delayed practically everywhere, there are huge cost overruns – and many of them are not working properly,” said expert Almut Kirchner. (archive image)
In addition, the production costs for nuclear power plants have risen while they are falling for renewable energies, according to the forecaster and co-author of “Energy Perspectives 2050” in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” published on Friday. The new generation of nuclear reactors only exist on paper, small modular reactors are not yet in commercial operation. “It would not be serious to plan with it.”
If the share of solar and wind energy increases, nuclear power could even prove to be an obstacle. “Your base load is then too large and makes the system inflexible,” said Kirchner.
In order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, around a fifth of Swiss roofs would have to be fitted with solar modules. This requires photovoltaics on some facades and part of the infrastructure. “In the case of wind, we only expect an increase of four terawatt hours by 2050 due to the acceptance problems, i.e. only about one eighth as much as with photovoltaics,” says Kirchner.
The forecaster expects investments of CHF 109 billion for the energy transition. ‘That’s not very much. On average, that is around 8 percent of the investments that are currently being made in the energy system anyway.” On the other hand, there are savings of 50 to 100 billion Swiss francs. Thanks to increases in efficiency, the total energy demand will also drop by a good 35 percent.
(SDA)