NRI Annual Review 2023 - Flipbook - Page 29
global nuclear power capacity will need to
double by the mid-century to reach net zero
emissions targets and give the world a chance
of capping temperature rises at 1.5 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels6. To reach
net-zero emissions, nuclear power capacity will
need to reach 812 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 from
413 GW installed capacity at present. This would
mean by the 2030s, an annual capacity of
27 GW of nuclear power will be required to
achieve this mid-century trajectory7.
Certainly, it would seem a number of major
shifts point to renewed momentum for
nuclear. The emergence of modular nuclear
technologies, coupled with innovative
financing models that factor in the strategic
value of new nuclear to decarbonisation and
energy security, are making nuclear more
commercially accessible and scalable.
Once the dust settles, and the
future of the world’s postcarbon economy becomes
clear, there will be a natural
synergy between a whole
suite of energy solutions.
From nuclear to renewable,
hydrogen and energy storage
technologies, by 2030 we
should be well on the way to
defining a new era of global
clean energy. By then, a new
nuclear frontier will surely
have arrived.
One common thread has underpinned
the Frontiers programme throughout: an
understanding that the framework for new
nuclear must be viewed in the global context
of the clean energy transition. Trends matter,
but occasionally global shifts occur as well,
and we are in the midst of a major economic
and geopolitical one. Undoubtedly, these are
turbulent times for energy policy.
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Nuclear - Fuels & Technologies - IEA
Global nuclear power capacity in the Net Zero Scenario, 2005-2050 – Charts – Data & Statistics - IEA
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