G7 Nations Discuss Phasing Out Coal-Fired Electricity by 2035

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 29, 2024

The G7 group of the world’s most industrialized nations are discussing a common target to end their coal-fired power generation by 2035 at an energy ministers’ meeting in Italy, a source close to the talks told Reuters on Monday.  

The energy, climate, and environment ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States are meeting between Sunday and Tuesday at a palace near Turin to discuss ways to address climate change.

The meeting “will aim to identify coherent, complementary and interconnected actions to address the ongoing climate, energy, and environmental crisis, with a special focus on the most vulnerable areas and populations,” the meeting’s host Italy, which holds the G7 rotating presidency this year, says.

Diplomats from the seven G7 members held a meeting on Sunday to debate setting a common 2035 as an end date for coal-sourced electricity in these countries. One nation was still opposing the idea as of late on Sunday, according to Reuters’s anonymous source.

A potential common target to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2035 in G7 nations would mark the first major achievement in the reduction of fossil fuels since the COP28 summit in Dubai at the end of last year.

During the annual climate summit, and after much debate overtime, the countries issued a final declaration with a compromise text referencing for the first time a call to all parties to transition away from fossil fuels.

One of the “global efforts” is “Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science,” the text reads.

The Conference of the Parties “Further recognizes the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 °C pathways and calls on Parties to contribute to the following global efforts, in a nationally determined manner, taking into account the Paris Agreement and their different national circumstances, pathways, and approaches,” the COP28 final declaration says

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Nuclear industry calls for continued G7 support

29 April 2024

Representatives of the nuclear industry have issued a statement calling for Group of Seven (G7) governments to embrace nuclear deployment as a strategic priority, by maximising use of existing nuclear power plants and setting clear plans for further deployment that would fulfil the targets they set at COP28, to triple global nuclear capacity.

The industry statement is presented to Italy's Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Image: WNA)

The statement was signed by the heads of Associazione Italiana Nucleare, Canadian Nuclear Association, Groupement des Industriels Français de l'Energie Nucléaire (Gifen), Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Nuclear Energy Institute, Nuclear Industry Association, Nucleareurope and World Nuclear Association.

It was presented to Italy's Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, at an event held alongside the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment in Turin, Italy. Fratin is President of the G7 for Climate, Energy and Environment.

The associations said they are committed to "ensuring safe and secure operation of nuclear facilities to provide always-on, affordable, clean low-carbon electricity and heat; to complement renewables in the pursuit of achieving net-zero in electricity generation; to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, such as heavy industry, and to provide high-quality long-term jobs that drive economic growth."

They noted that nuclear energy's role to support climate change mitigation was "unanimously agreed" in COP28's Global Stocktake, and 25 countries demonstrated greater ambition, setting a goal to triple nuclear capacity globally by 2050 in a declaration during COP.

In March, at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, more than 30 countries, including six of the G7, re-emphasised that nuclear energy has a key role to play to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure energy security and industrial competitiveness.

"We applaud the recognition and support expressed for nuclear energy as a strategic global asset at the G7 meeting in Sapporo in 2023, and the actions that have been taken since," they added.

"We urge G7 governments to set out clear plans for nuclear energy deployment that would fulfil the targets they set at COP28 and to demonstrate their commitment to nuclear energy, giving clear signals to markets and investors," the industry statement says. "We therefore encourage governments to help maximise the use of existing nuclear power plants, including by extending the operating period of reactors and restarting those that have shutdown, where feasible."

The industry calls for G7 governments to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear facilities based on proven designs, and accelerate the development, demonstration, and deployment of new nuclear technologies, including new large reactors as well as small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors, to achieve net-zero in electricity generation, and help decarbonise non-grid, hard-to-abate sectors, such as heat supply for heavy industry, hydrogen production and the manufacturing of synthetic fuels.

The associations said G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers must take decisive action by: establishing optimum conditions through consistent and coherent long-term policies that enable the extension of the operating life of existing reactors and facilitate fleet deployment of nuclear technologies; providing clarity to investors on the funding and investment recovery mechanisms available for nuclear projects; ensuring ready access to national and international climate finance mechanisms for nuclear development; ensuring that multilateral financial institutions include nuclear energy in their investment portfolios; clearly and unambiguously labelling nuclear energy and the associated fuel cycle as a sustainable investment; and promoting development of the supply chain commensurate with expansion targets and continue investment in nuclear research.

"Nuclear energy holds immense promise for the world, and the G7 should embrace nuclear deployment as a strategic priority in the years to come," the statement ends.

The G7 is an informal forum that brings together Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the USA. The European Union also participates in the group and is represented at the summits by the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission.

The G7 Ministerial Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment is being held in Turin on 28-30 April and "aims to identify coherent, complementary and interconnected actions to address the ongoing climate, energy and environmental crisis, with a special focus on the most vulnerable areas and populations".

Speaking from the event, World Nuclear Association Director General Dr Sama Bilbao y León, praised the Italian government's "recognition of nuclear’s role to support climate change mitigation and deep decarbonisation of the entire economy. As an industry we also recognise the role of Italian companies, and indeed of companies from all G7 countries, supporting an acceleration in nuclear development and deployment globally".

New agreements look to nuclear technology to decarbonise industrial operations

25 April 2024

Terrestrial Energy has signed an agreement with Schneider Electric to collaborate on developing zero-carbon energy solutions for industrial facilities and large data centres based on Terrestrial's Integral Molten Salt Reactor, while L&H Industrial, Inc and BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC are to work together on the potential deployment of BWXT's Advanced Nuclear Reactor to provide heat and power for industrial users, beginning in Wyoming.

Irish (3rd from lett) and Lawrence (4th from left) with members of the Schneider team pictured at the CERAWeek conference, where the MoU was signed (Image: Terrestrial)

The memorandum of understanding between Terrestrial and Schneider Electric, a supplier of digital control systems for energy management, will see the two companies jointly develop commercial opportunities and advance the deployment of IMSR plants.

The IMSR's heat and power supply has many industrial uses that require reliable, baseload zero-carbon energy supply at near-site locations, such as dedicated power for large data centres and cogeneration for heavy industrial facilities, Terrestrial said. The collaboration with Schneider "offers solutions to the major energy challenges faced by data centre operators and many heavy industries operating a wide range of industrial processes such as hydrogen, ammonia, aluminum, and steel production", it added. These high-energy users require low-cost, reliable and emissions-free baseload supply.

"Schneider Electric's value proposition is to leverage Digital Twin technology across the full IMSR project lifecycle and during operations - resulting in a reduction of project time to market and cost as well as more efficient operations," said Gary Lawrence, president of Power & Grid Systems at Schneider Electric.

Simon Irish, CEO of Terrestrial Energy, said Schneider Electric is a supplier with capabilities central to the reliable and efficient operation of IMSR plants. "The IMSR's use of next-generation fission technology - Generation IV molten salt technology - delivers the transformative improvements in the commercial performance of nuclear energy necessary to meet the fast-growing demand for zero-carbon energy across many industrial applications and markets. We look forward to our partnership with Schneider Electric at this exciting time," he said.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission last year completed Phase 2 of its vendor design review process for the IMSR, finding no fundamental barriers to licensing the reactor for commercial use, in what Terrestrial described as the first-ever regulatory review of a commercial nuclear plant using molten salt reactor technology and the first advanced, high-temperature fission technology to complete a review of this type.

L&H and BWXT announce partnership

L&H said the joint development agreement it has signed with BWXT is aimed at deploying microreactors to provide heat and power for industrial users and is a response to the growing demand from the domestic industrial sector for reliable, resilient, affordable, and low-emission energy. The company, which specialises in industrial solutions for mining and other heavy industries, said it is working with BWXT to create a "new standard for cogeneration by delivering the best solutions for energy intensive industries requiring heat and electricity."

Last year, BWXT announced a two-phase, two-year contract with the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) to assess the viability of deploying small-scale nuclear reactors in the US state The new collaborative effort will start in Wyoming and neighbouring states, and will focus on the development and potential deployment of BWXT's Advanced Nuclear Reactor (BANR) in cogeneration sets. It will build on groundwork laid by the Idaho National Laboratory's Frontiers Initiative and the WEA Governor's Matching Fund project that is helping pave the way for new models of microreactor deployment, L&H said. The agreement "opens doors to new technological frontiers, allowing the company to participate in both the supply chain and the development and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors," it added.

"Collaborating with BWXT represents a unique opportunity for L&H to lead the way in the nuclear energy supply chain and further develop Evercore Energy, the operational company that will own, operate and lease the energy provided by these groundbreaking cogen sets," L&H Industrial President and CEO Mike Wandler said.

According to reports in the Wyoming press, Evercore Energy was established last year as a business unit of L&H to build up a nuclear services business from scratch.

"We are look forward to combining our expertise and know-how with BWXT to create the business and financial models that will meet the energy needs, reliability and resiliency of mining and other critical industries in our region," Evercore Managing Director Marcio Paes Barreto said.

"L&H Industrial and BWXT have developed a strong relationship as we have already been working on a project together for the Wyoming Energy Authority," said Joe Miller, president of BWXT Advanced Technologies. "This next phase in our relationship with L&H Industrial gives us both the opportunity to develop and deploy high temperature gas micro-reactor technology for the mining and heavy industries in and around Wyoming."

WEA Executive Director Rob Creager said L&H is a "natural fit" to work with BWXT: "We have always known that the opportunity to create a nuclear industry in Wyoming wasn't just about producing more energy but bringing the entire supply chain of the industry to our state - energy produced in Wyoming with components made in Wyoming."

BWXT describes the BANR as a modular, factory-fabricated system that is small and light enough to be transported via rail, ship or truck and that can deliver 50 MW of thermal nuclear reactor power, using high-temperature gas reactor technology with inherent safety features and a high working fluid temperature. It provides flexible options for energy output - including electricity, steam for process heat, or both (cogeneration).

Researched and written by World Nuclear News