How investors weigh the risks amid increased demand for nuclear energy

LONDON – The high demand for energy has caused interest in nuclear energy, but the requirements of the large -scale capital and the uninterrupted political and organizational climate raises questions about the financial ability of the sector.

Technology giants Money pumping in nuclear energy investmentsLooking at the intensive energy centers of energy and achieving artificial intelligence aspirations.

“We are finally realized that the demand for electricity and energy in general will only increase,” said the director of the World Nuclear Association, Sama Bilbao Yun Lyon, before the conference. But the reality is that all sectors of the economy will need more electricity. “

In addition to artificial intelligence, applications range from nuclear energy for the mineral industry, which aspires to the electrification as quickly as possible, to the chemical, marine and charging sectors.

The issue of how to meet the growing energy needs in the world has occupied a major position in the Executive Director of the largest nuclear and energy companies in the world, experts and investors who gathered at the annual WNA World Nuclear Assembly symposium at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel last week.

Upon starting discussions at the conference, Lyon told the attendees in her welcoming speech that the event is a “action summit” looking to bypass the conversation.

Investments in the nuclear value chain are expected to increase until 2025 to $ 2.2 trillion, according to Morgan Stanley EstimatesUp from 2024 expectations of $ 1.5 trillion. This level of investment raises questions about the role of government, banks and other financial players in providing adequate financial ability.

The nuclear energy is said to provide a more reliable energy source around the clock throughout the week compared to renewable energy, which can be more prevalent. The development of small standard reactors (SMRS) provides a more developmental energy solution due to its size. According to IEAThe SMR investment period is half a 20 to 30 years of projects on a large scale.

But SMRS has not yet reached the commercial stage, and most planned projects will not arrive online until 2030. While a large amount of money is pledged, there have been no large -scale new nuclear projects in the United States over the past fifteen years.

“The first positive story regarding the financial sector in relation to the nuclearists is that it is open to financing nuclear weapons,” said Mahish Gwnca, the founder of the commercial advisory company for the old economy, told CNBC on the margin of WNA. “This was not the story a few years ago when many banks did not want to touch nuclear projects. This has changed. The question now remains, do they have a risk appetite for financing nuclear projects?”

The challenges include excessive budgets in operation, late delivery of projects due to long construction times, technical complexity of initiatives and difficulties in obtaining licenses.

Gwenca has compared the West with China, where financial institutions are happy to finance nuclear projects because they can be delivered on time and on the budget – which leads to better margins than other infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, the West has not built many new reactors for a long time, so the learning rate was not yet.

Almost all the ability of nuclear generation in the United States comes from built reactors 1967 and 1990With no new constructions until 2013 when working on Vogtle units in Georgia began. Meanwhile, the last factory in the United Kingdom was the Sizewell B, who started work in 1995.

Nuclear investments are “political projects by nature.” He pointed out that although customers are more acceptable to investments, the uncertainty about the cost and the construction time remains.

He said during a discussion episode: “We are many years away from the situation through which techniques can be used such as financing the project on their own to finance a large nucleus (projects).”

“The contractors will not be, even if they are ready, and with their fans, they will go bankrupt because of some of the risks that sit with these projects. Therefore, it will be a government, or you will be the electricity consumers in that country, and in some places that the facilities can take place.”

Other major projects have faced similar issues. The factory ran in Winsburu, Georgia Several years behind the schedule He had a budget more than weakness during development. The UK’s nuclear power point in the United Kingdom faced a lot Fears about security risks During its initial stages, in addition to a budget I swelled into an estimated £ 40 billion.

Treenor Mallor, chief executive manager in corporate financing consultants at ESKOM, confirmed that the private sector cannot be a “silver bullet” and solve the problem of nuclear energy financing.

Mawarg said during a discussion episode on Wednesday that public private partnerships will be “decisive” in the development of nuclear, especially in any emerging economy.

While some European countries such as Switzerland – which currently have a ban on building any new nuclear factories, have formulated legislation to raise this proposal – and Germany remains harmful to nuclear energy, and other governments such as those in the United Kingdom, France and the United States were tending to the power source.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders designed to track the development of nuclear reactors quickly and The ability to generate quadruple nuclear By 2025.

Scott Melby, CEO of uranium, said that such measures from the Trump administration have set positive nuclear energy policies “on stimulants.”

“What we see is truly concrete measures by this administration to stimulate not only building small standard reactors, advanced reactors and large reactors, but (also) in the fuel cycle,” Milby told WNA.

The investor has noticed the increasing attention from the investor community to find opportunities with startups, especially those that provide nuclear technology.

She said that the UK government, in particular, has adopted a more “practical” approach in helping startups to secure investors in clean technology.

“You should discover the same list. It is no longer an issue, where do we get the capital?