L R AS Published on Sunday 24 September 2023 - n° 458 - Categories:prices France
CRE has estimated the price of a nuclear megawatt-hour (MWh) in July 2023
CRE has estimated the price of a nuclear megawatt-hour (MWh) in July 2023. The summary of its report, published on 18 September, shows that the full cost of existing nuclear power will be
60.70 over the 2026/2030 period (expressed in 2022 euros). This amount will decrease slowly until 2036/2040.
The accounting cost of generation is €57.80 per MWh at the 2022 price. Inflation must be added for subsequent years.
By way of comparison, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) indicated a global average cost of $33/MWh for wind power and $49/MWh for photovoltaics, i.e. €31.13 for wind power and €46.22 for photovoltaics respectively.
To read the CRE report: https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/CRE_Rapport_couts_nucleaire_2023.pdf
https://www.batirama.com/article/64904-quel-est-le-cout-du-mwh-d-electricite-nucleaire.html
Batirama of 21 September 2023
Editor's note: The €60.70 figure seems very low compared with the Arenh amount, set at €42 per MWh in 2012 (inflation should be included over the ten years), and following the major overhaul. As we have no details of how this amount is calculated, we can only be cautious. If the government asked the Commission de régulation de l'énergie for the price of a nuclear kilowatt-hour, it may also have asked to limit the amount in order to justify ordering six new reactors!
Similarly, the steady decline in the cost of producing nuclear electricity over the next fifteen years seems curious, even if we can understand that no new power stations are being built and that the old ones are gradually being written off. However, the obsolescence of these plants means that these calculations may be underestimated.
Finally, comparing the world price of wind or photovoltaic power with the price of nuclear electricity in France is inappropriate.
