UK passes new nuclear financing model
New reactors to be financed during construction phase via regulated asset base model
The UK parliament has passed a bill to introduce a new regulated asset base (RAB) model for financing the construction of new nuclear energy projects. While contracts for difference (CfD) provide a subsidy for power generation once the plant is up and running, under RAB the government will pay a fixed return during the construction phase. For nuclear power plants, where construction schedules can run into the decades, this could incentivise private investment by lowering construction risk. Construction risk was blamed for the cancellation of at least two recent nuclear projects by Japanese conglomerates Hitachi and Toshiba. The RAB model places costs for new nuclear capacity onto energy bill
Also in this section
3 May 2024
Developers look to government’s forthcoming budget to restore support as industry suffers loss of momentum
1 May 2024
Abundant storage and low cost of capturing CO₂ from sharply rising gas production mean NOC’s ambitious CCUS targets look well within reach
29 April 2024
Decarbonisation push and shifting multilateral trade policy sharpens continent’s need for carbon trading
29 April 2024
Canada’s oil sands producers need policy certainty to make the multibillion-dollar investments needed to achieve net zero, Pathways Alliance president Kendall Dilling tells Carbon Economist