27 Jun (NucNet): The European Commission is ready to co-finance and provide guarantees for important energy initiatives, but ultimately it will be up to the market and private investors to decide which projects get built, commissioner for energy Günther Oettinger has said. Mr Oettinger said there are “many projects of common interest” in the plan for the establishment of the EU common market for electricity and gas and the Connecting Europe facility has EUR 9.1 billion allocated for such projects. Mr Oettinger told NucNet that Europe has some isolated [energy] islands – member states which are not connected to other European member states – and “it is our ambition to resolve this situation by the end of 2015”. Additionally, the EC provides support to the process of development of nuclear power in the Baltic region, which is one of the main energy islands. Most recently, on 8 June 2013, the EC issued an opinion on the construction of the Visaginas nuclear power plant in Lithuania, stressing that it would contribute to the security of energy supply in the Baltic region. Such favourable opinions from the EC under the provisions of the Euratom Treaty allow nuclear energy projects to apply for EU financial instruments such as those from Euratom and the European Investment Bank. Mr Oettinger said: “It is mainly up to the market to decide whether there is interest and whether there is a business case. “We are comparing these processes and giving advice, as well as looking at safety and security issues. At the end of the day it is up to private investors to decide which new power plants should be developed to provide a good level of security of supply”. Mr Oettinger also told NucNet that nuclear power will play a role in the achievement of the EU’s climate goals. “Nuclear power is the technology accounting for some 30 percent of our generation at the moment. And indeed, nuclear power is a non-carbon technology,” Mr Oettinger said. Follow NucNet on Twitter @nucnetupdates Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers): Informal Deal Source NucNet Editor Lubomir Mitev
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:54:31 +0000