nuclear-news

Energy industry heading towards Wind, away from Nuclear

Exelon’s actions often foreshadow where the energy industry is headed…..the momentum for the much-touted nuclear renaissance has slowed to a crawl

(USA) What Exelon’s Wind Energy Buy Means For the Future of Nuclear Power, BNET, By Kirsten Korosec | September 1, 2010 Exelon (EXC) announced this week it was buying John Deere Renewables for as much as $900 million, a purchase that marks the company’s entrance into the wind generation business and suggests its lack of confidence in a nuclear energy renaissance.

As the largest U.S. utility owner and the country’s biggest nuclear generator, Exelon’s actions often foreshadow where the energy industry is headed…..
the momentum for the much-touted nuclear renaissance has slowed to a crawl for a number of reasons. For one, energy prices are too low right now to justify the expensive and lengthy process of secure financing and receive regulatory approval for a new nuclear plant, let alone building the reactor itself.
Plus, the Obama administration, which had hoped to triple the amount of available loan guarantees for new reactors to $54 billion, has been unable to get that funding measure passed. Even the remaining $10 billion in loan guarantees that is still available has yet to be awarded by the DOE….that’s the problem with nuclear power: It’s impossible to get the financing to build a new reactor without loan guarantees from the government…..
Exelon, which has supported legislation that puts a cap and a price on greenhouse gas emissions, isn’t waiting around. The company made a promise two years ago to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions…….
The 735 megawatts of installed wind capacity it’s buying is enough to power up to 220,000 homes in the eight states. About 75 percent of the wind megawatts are already contracted out, which provides some stability for Exelon. With this single deal, Exelon will become one of the country’s largest wind operators.

What Exelon’s Wind Energy Buy Means For the Future of Nuclear Power | BNET

September 2, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, USA | antinuclear, energy efficiency, nuclear, nuclear costs, renewable energy, renewables, wind