MEPs fully include nuclear in Net-Zero Industry Act

The European Parliament has adopted its position on the proposed Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which is intended to bolster Europe's manufacturing output in technologies needed for decarbonisation. MEPs included nuclear fission and fusion among a list of 17 technologies covered by the legislation.

Europe largely imports these decarbonisation technologies, and many non-EU countries have stepped up their efforts to expand their clean energy manufacturing capacity.

The NZIA - proposed by the European Commission in March - sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of its annual deployment needs in net-zero technologies by 2030 and to capture 25% of the global market value for these technologies. The legislation - part of the EU's Green Deal Industrial Plan and seen as a response to the USA's Inflation Reduction Act - also intends to deal with the challenges in scaling up manufacturing capacities in these technologies.

In their amendments, MEPs broadened the scope of the draft legislation to encompass the entire supply chain, including components, materials and machinery for producing net-zero technologies. They propose a wider, more comprehensive list of 17 technologies to be covered, to be updated periodically. Notably, MEPs included nuclear fission and fusion technologies, sustainable aviation fuels and specific industrial technologies.

Nuclear had only partially been included in the commission's proposal for NZIA. Among the 10 technologies it proposed was "advanced technologies to produce energy from nuclear processes with minimal waste from the fuel cycle, small modular reactors, and related best-in-class fuels".

The law retains two project classifications: net-zero technology manufacturing projects and net-zero strategic projects. It also aims to streamline the permitting process, setting a timeline of 9-12 months for regular projects and 6-9 months for strategic projects to be authorised.

The legislation would earmark funding from national Emission Trading System revenues and for most strategic projects through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, a step towards a European Sovereignty fund, MEPs say.

The legislation was adopted on 21 November with 376 votes to 139, with 116 abstentions.

"With the adoption of this proposal, MEPs are showing they are serious about making Europe fit for industrial manufacturing," said lead MEP Christian Ehler of the European People's Party. "Without these steps to reduce the administrative burden, speed up processes, and increased public investment in our industry and innovation, Europe would face decarbonisation by deindustrialisation. This proposal shows we can prevent this."

The proposed NZIA will now be forwarded to EU member states in the Council of Ministers for talks in early December to finalise the law. [emp]

VIHREÄ SÄHKÖ: VERKOT TULEVAT VASTAAN MUUALLAKIN KUIN SUOMESSA

Europe's electricity industry has warned that unprecedented investments are needed to upgrade ageing electricity grids, or the EU will fail to meet its clean energy targets.

The European Union's plans to curb climate change foresee millions more electric vehicles on European roads by 2030, as well as a massive expansion of renewable energy, and electric heat pumps starting to replace fossil fuel boilers in houses.

Electricity industry association Eurelectric said on Thursday that to support those goals, average annual investments in Europe's electricity grids from now to 2050 need to be at least 84% higher than they were in 2021.

"We want to transform the entire energy system at record speed, replace fossil fuels - oil and gas - with electricity. So we add loads of new generation capacity to the grid, we add electric cars, heat pumps," Eurelectric Secretary General Kristian Ruby said.

"Therefore, you cannot say today what we used to do 10 years ago will be just fine for the next 10 years. It's just not the case," he told Reuters.

The European Commission has said power grid investments of 584 billion euros ($626.3 billion) per year are needed until 2030 to meet green goals.

Much of that is expected to come from private sources or be paid for through grid tariffs. Eurelectric said public funding should target upgrading grids quickly, over other longer-term infrastructure like hydrogen projects that would launch in the 2030s.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told Reuters grid projects will be included in an upcoming list of cross-border infrastructure that will be offered faster permits and access to EU funding.

"If we will not upgrade grid infrastructure very fast, we will not achieve our 2030 targets," she said.

Forty percent of Europe's power distribution grids are over 40 years old. Most are designed around large centralised power plants, and will need upgrading to distribute power from the fleet of local solar panels and wind farms expected to plug in this decade.

EU countries are negotiating power market reforms that could make it easier and faster for grid operators to invest in upgrading networks. However, governments have been struggling to approve the law since June because of a dispute over state aid for power plants. [emp]

SAKSA: YLI PUOLET SÄHKÖSTÄ UUSIUTUVAA

Renewable share of German power use climbs to 52.3% in first half

Renewable energy accounted for 52.3% of Germany's power consumption in the first six months of the year, up 3.1 points from a year earlier, on higher solar production and lower overall electricity usage, data showed on Tuesday. That was up from a renewable share of 49.2% in the first six months of 2022, according to utility group BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW).

Germany wants green power from solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric generation to account for 80% of its energy mix by 2030, as it abandons nuclear power and aims to cut most of its coal generation and use gas plants mostly for grid back-up. 

The preliminary figures showed higher photovoltaic production in May and June, due to favourable weather. They also reflected far lower power consumption in the first half of 2023 when electricity usage fell 6.5% year-on-year to 262.8 terawatt hours (TWh), BDEW noted in a statement. The data was calculated under a European Union requirement to base the green share on usage rather than production, a method adopted by the Berlin government for its climate targets, BDEW said.

Domestic electricity production fell 10.8% to 265.9 TWh in the six-month period, including production for export, the data showed. Renewables, at 137.5 TWh, represented 51.7% of total output, up from 46.4% in first half 2022, even as green power production volumes decreased by 0.6%. [emp]

RUOTSI: LISÄÄ YDINVOIMAA JA "GREEN"-TAVOITTEISTA LUOPUMISTA

Swedish parliament passes new energy target, easing way for new nuclear power. Sweden's parliament on Tuesday adopted a new energy target, giving the right-wing government the green light to push forward with plans to build new nuclear plants in a country that voted 40 years ago to phase out atomic power.

Hanging the target to "100% fossil-free" electricity, from "100% renewable" is key to the government's plan to meet an expected doubling of electricity demand to around 300 TwH by 2040 and reach net zero emissions by 2045. "This creates the conditions for nuclear power," Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said in parliament. "We need more electricity production, we need clean electricity and we need a stable energy system."

Sweden's parties agreed a deal in 2016 that new reactors could be built at existing sites. However, without subsidies, it has been seen as too expensive. The new right-of-centre coalition says new reactors are essential to power the shift to a fossil-free economy and has promised generous loan guarantees. Around 98% of electricity in Sweden is already generated from water, nuclear and wind.

State-owned utility Vattenfall is looking at building at least two small modular reactors and at extending the life of the country's existing reactors. Critics say nuclear power is expensive, will take too long to build and is unsafe.

The focus on nuclear power is part of a wider shift in environmental policy in a country that has long touted itself as a "green" champion. The coalition plans to cut the bio-fuel mix in petrol and diesel, leading to bigger CO2 emissions, a move that could mean Sweden missing 2030 emissions goals.

Proposals by Sweden to allow countries to prolong subsidies for standby coal power plants have also been met concern in the EU, while Stockholm also wanted Brussels to water-down a landmark law to restore deteriorating natural habitats. 
At home, plans to simplify environmental permitting could speed up the build-out of wind power and allow miners to exploit large deposits of rare earth elements, crucial in electric motor production. [EMP]

SUOMI-RATA KESKEYTETÄÄN - TURUN OIKORATAAN 460 MEUR

Olen vuosien ajan kirjoitellut ratamafiaa vastaan ja osoittanut kaikkien suurten ratahankkeiden (Pisara, Turku, Tampere, Itä, Jäämeri, Tallinna) yhteiskunta-taloudellisenkin kannattamattomuuden. Eilen julkistettu Orpon hallituksen ohjelma sentään keskeyttikin kalleimman oikoratahankkeen. Ohjelman mukaan "Suomi-radan valmistelu keskeytetään. Jäljellä olevat varat palautetaan omistajille." 

Sen sijaan Orpon lemmikki hyväksyttiin seuraavin sanoin: "Valtio toteuttaa Turun tunnin juna -hankkeen, joka käsittää Espoo–Salo-oikoradan rakentamisen ja Salo–Kupittaa-yhteysvälin parantamisen. Rakentaminen käynnistyy Espoo–Lohja ja Salo–Kupittaa-yhteysväleillä. Rakentamisvaihetta varten valtio varautuu osana investointi-ohjelmaa pääomittamaan rahoitusta kokoavaa yhtiötä, jonka osakkaina voivat valtion lisäksi olla kunnat."

Ja "Itäradan hankeyhtiön toiminta jatkuu."

Seuraavassa taulukossa näytän eri ratahankkeille esitetyt investointirahat:

Rata	Investointi (MEUR)
Suomi-rata Helsinki-Tampere	0
Lentoradan suunnittelu	43
Turun Tunnin juna -yhtiön pääomittaminen (Espoo–Lohja & Turku–Salo)	460
Espoon kaupunkirata	179
Rantaradan kehittäminen	80
Pääradan kehittäminen Helsinki–Tampere, Liminka–Oulu-kaksoisraide, Tornio–Kolari -radan sähköistäminen	535
Karjalanradan kehittäminen Luumäki–Imatra 2. vaihe	215

SAKSA VASTUSTAA YDINVOIMAN LUKEMISTA UUSIUTUVAKSI / PÄÄSTÖTTÖMÄKSI

The European Union is negotiating more ambitious targets to expand renewable energy this decade, but the talks have been deadlocked by a dispute over whether countries can meet the goals using "low-carbon hydrogen" produced from nuclear power.

Oh Thursday, ministers from the seven countries - Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain - wrote to Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency and represents countries in EU policy negotiations, calling for the targets to be kept free of non-renewable energy sources.

"Taking into account low-carbon hydrogen and low-carbon fuels in the 2030 (renewable energy) targets would decrease the ambition and slow down renewables deployment, which in turn would jeopardize the achievement of the climate targets," the ministers said in the letter, seen by Reuters.

They said this decade will be decisive for limiting climate change - and that renewable power and hydrogen will be the main drivers of the emissions cuts needed to do this.

"Additional renewable energy capacity can be installed within short timeframes and at comparatively competitive costs," the letter said.

Nuclear energy is low-carbon, but not renewable. The fuel source divides EU countries, with Austria and Luxembourg firmly opposed, while others including Germany are phasing out their reactors and countries including Denmark and Ireland are nuclear-free.

France, which has historically relied on nuclear energy for 70% of its power, is leading the push to open up the EU renewable energy targets.

Last month France, Poland, the Czech Republic and six other pro-nuclear EU countries warned that excluding nuclear from the targets would slow development of hydrogen fuel, which Europe is betting on to decarbonise heavy industry.

An EU diplomat said frustration was growing among some countries over France's push for nuclear at a late stage in the negotiations, and a separate row in which Germany is stalling an EU law on car emissions after it had already been agreed.

Such moves by Europe's two biggest economies "paint the picture of the big member states playing by different rules than the small ones," the diplomat said.

The seven countries said they were open to discussing low-carbon fuels' contribution in other EU laws, including on gas networks - but that renewable goals should only be met by wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. [EMP]

TUNNIN JUNA KESTÄÄ PUOLITOISTA TUNTIA!

Olen vuosien varrella moneen kertaan kirjoittanut järjettömistä ratahankeista ja kumonnut niiden propagandassa hehkutettuja väitteitä. Nyt vihdoin Turun Tunnin Juna Oy myöntää, että tunnista puhuminen on valetta. Sen mukaan nopea kaukojuna, joka ei pysähdy välillä missään, vie aikaa 1h 18min. Sen sijaan tavallisempi kaukojuna , joka pysähtyy matkalla 3 kertaa, vie optimistisesti 1h 26min, mikä on vain 26 min vähemmän kuin nykyinen juna Helsinki-Kupittaa.