IEA Chief: No Chance of Hitting Climate Goals Without Nuclear Power

The world will need nuclear power generation to reach its emission reduction and net-zero targets, according to Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“Without the support of nuclear power, we have no chance to reach our climate targets on time,” Birol said ahead of a nuclear energy summit in Brussels on Thursday, as carried by Reuters.

“Renewables will play a major role in terms of electricity, especially solar, supported by wind and hydro power,” the head of the Paris-based agency told reporters.

“But we also need nuclear power, especially in those countries where we do not have a major renewable potential,” Birol added.  

After the energy crisis of 2022, many governments – with the notable exception of Germany – have opted to boost its nuclear power generation to ensure energy security and reduce emissions from electricity generation as they aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The comeback of nuclear power in many countries is expected to drive a record-high electricity generation from nuclear in 2025, the IEA said earlier this year.

By next year, global nuclear generation is forecast to exceed its previous record set in 2021, the IEA said in its Electricity 2024 report published in January.

Even as some countries phase out nuclear power or retire plants early, global nuclear generation is expected to rise by nearly 3% per year on average through 2026. The key drivers of growth will be the completion of maintenance works in France, restart of some nuclear power plants in Japan, and new reactors coming online in China, India, South Korea, and Europe, among others, according to the IEA.   

Soaring renewable capacity additions and the global nuclear renaissance are on track to enable low-emissions power generation to outpace robust electricity demand growth over the next three years, the IEA said.  

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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