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OURVIEW April 2015
THE CASE FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY AS PART OF THE RENEWABLE ENERGY MIX
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by Dr. Angelina Parfenova, Infrasuisse
Emerging Nuclear Technologies
Renewables are energy sources that are natural, sustainable and almost inexhaustible. In this report we focus on renewable energy with very low or no carbon emission. Such main modern renewable energy power sources are: solar, wind, and hydro power. Other, less prevalent, forms of renewable energy sources include biomass, biofuels, geothermal, radiant energy, wave and tidal power. Nuclear power in the right configuration can also be considered as renewable (limitless). Nuclear energy is the most efficient type of renewable energy today: land use, high energy-density, lowest use of building materials per unit of energy, low carbon emission and one of the least expensive in terms of levelized costs (average cost of power lifetime of service). Thus, nuclear is one of the most important energy-solutions in reducing carbon emissions and nuclear technologies are part of the energy portfolio of the twenty-first century. Today’s nuclear energy production is to a large degree a by-product of the Manhattan project initiated in 1942 with the purpose of breeding plutonium-239 for nuclear weapons. Simply put, today’s nuclear energy productions is based on a technology that was not meant to produce energy originally. Accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima tragically reminded us of the weakness and limited acceptance of the current solution. However, nuclear reactor technology has been under continuous development since the 1950s. Nuclear reactor designs are categorized by "Generation" (Gen) I, II, III, and IV. Development of advanced reactor systems takes an average of about 25 years per generation. Most reactors in operation around the world are Gen II (most commonly light water reactors) and only a dozen of Gen III reactors are in operation and in construction as per 2014. Gen III are improved Gen II designs, which include higher performance, extended lifetimes, improved passive cooling and passive safety. Gen IV are reactor designs currently being researched and discussed in this report. Most of these designs, with the exception of the Russian BN-800 and BN-1200 reactors, are not expected to be commercially deployed before 2040. Latest R&D efforts on developing new Gen IV reactors focus on increasing operational safety, sustainability and eliminating dangerous waste.
Due to the lack of military interest and public environmental concerns over nuclear energy in general the civil nuclear industry is presently underfinanced. In the United States nuclear R&D is mostly financed by private investors, however in China, Russia, South Korea and France by government-supported enterprises.
Energy Consumption
Approximately 87 % of the worldwide primary energy demand is provided by fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and the majority of carbon emissions arise from their burning.
In 2013 the world energy consumption rate was approximately 15 TW and is projected to more than double by 2050. The world total carbon emission was approximately 34,500 million metric tons as per 2012. The key parameters and dependences are shown in equation (1). E (CO2 emission total) = C (CO2 per energy unit) x P(population) x (1) x S (services per unit of energy) x x E (energy per service), where C is the key factor, which can be brought to almost zero depending on energy type (carbon neutral power), S is going to increase by delivering services to developing countries and rising their living standards (for example, food, clothing, TV, heating etc.), E is possible to keep constant due to innovations (for example, better insulated houses etc.), P is going to increase from 6.1bn to 9bn by 2050 due to constant improvement in nutrition and health care. A look at the current per capita emission shows that highly developed markets as well as emerging markets will have an obvious interest in developing effective energy solutions with
2%
7%4%
30%
33%
24%
Modern Renewables
Hydro
Nuclear
Coal
Oil
Gas
Content
1 Emerging Nuclear Technologies
2 Energy Consumption
3 Political Environment
4 Renewable Energies Overview
5 Supporting Technologies
6 Nuclear Technologies
7 Comparison of aspects
8 Swiss Energy Strategy
9 Companies Mentioned
10 Key Sources
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little CO2 emission. Behind the scene the race has already started and it will be important not only for governments, but also for investors to define their right strategy in order to leverage outcome.
Political Environment
Despite the outlined scenario, current low oil
and gas prices coupled by a limited sense of
urgency for global warming may lead to a
temporary slowdown of investments in
renewable energies at least in developed
markets. However, large emerging economies
(China, India) with growing energy demand
have stepped up their ambitions and have
become leaders in deploying low-carbon energy
technologies.
China is building the world’s largest renewable
energy system, which is aimed at solving the
country's pollution and growing power demand
problems. China’s electricity generated in
2013 was comprised of approximately 79% from
thermal- (coal, oil, gas and biomass), 17% from
hydro-, 2% from wind- and 2% from nuclear-
power according to China Electricity Council
(CEC). As China's political will is driven by an
ambition to become less exposed to fossil fuel
prices it also envisages a target for growth in
nuclear capacity, while in Europe nuclear
remains politically controversial. We
recommend therefore to watch closely
developments in China and in the United States,
in order to not miss the opportunity to replace
the current "old" nuclear energy solution with "a
green" solution.
Renewable Energies – Overview
In 2013 renewable energy and nuclear power represented 1.95 TW (13%) of energy produced globally. China, the US, Germany, Italy, Spain and India were the key contributors to the 1.95 TW. Total investments made globally in renewable energy in 2013 were USD 214.4bn, the majority of investments however was made by China (56.3), Europe (48.4), the United States (35.8) and India (6.1). Most investments were made in the wind (80.1) and solar (113.7) sectors. Hence, we expect major opportunity for investors on a global scale where the regulatory framework and the geographic locations prove favorable.
Solar
Solar energy is variable and has comparatively
low capacity factor (actually produced power
relative to the maximum it could be produced)
because of daily rotation of the earth, seasonal
changes, and cloud covers. In the last 15 years
the solar industry demonstrated rapid growth.
However, solar power remains a very small
element of the overall global power base and is
significantly more expensive on a levelized cost
basis than wind power. Solar technology would
be highly efficient on space-based platforms,
however it is a challenge regarding (i)
magnitude of investments, (ii) economic
viability and (iii) technological issues still to be
solved.
Wind
Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy
into the grid or provide electricity to isolated
off-grid locations in rural areas in developing
countries. In China, 36m people acquired access
to electricity through off-grid sources between
1998 and 2012.
The cost for wind energy has reduced as wind
turbine technology has rapidly improved. The
development of turbine blades with thinner,
lighter and more aerodynamic shapes has
resulted in both higher efficiency (also for low
wind regions) and lower noise generation.
Various techniques are being applied to make
wind farms more compact with horizontal or
vertical axis rotation turbines placed on
underutilized spaces like rooftops and over
parking lots, new technical solutions for
reducing collisions with birds and the windmills
appearance in landscapes.
China has built 16 GW of wind generation
capacity in 2013 alone. Scaling it with the
average wind power load factor for China of
21.6 % results in approximately 3.5 GW. For
comparison in the last four years China
managed to put 4.7 GW of nuclear into
operation.
Supporting Technologies
Most problems associated with solar and wind energy production are connected with energy storage and transmission.
Energy storage: fuel cell
Strong wind and high radiation lead to the over-
production of electricity that the grid cannot
absorb. The integration of such energy
surpluses produced locally creates a major
challenge for electricity networks. The power
grid can only absorb so much power as is being
consumed, otherwise it will be overloaded.
Content
1 Emerging Nuclear Technologies
2 Energy Consumption
3 Political Environment
4 Renewable Energies Overview
5 Supporting Technologies
6 Nuclear Technologies
7 Comparison of aspects
8 Swiss Energy Strategy
9 Companies Mentioned
10 Key Sources
CO2 emission per capita in metric tons
USA 16.4
Russia 12.4
Germany 9.7
China 7.1
India 1.6
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One possible solution is to use surplus of electricity for the production of high-energy gases such as hydrogen or methane by means of electrolysis of water. Thus, the electrical energy would be stored in chemical energy. The gases can be stored for later use in electrical power generation using a fuel cell. A fuel cell is a device that efficiently generates electricity from hydrogen and oxygen through converting chemical energy back to electrical. Fuel cells process relative high efficiency of 40-60%, which is 2-3 times higher than the efficiency of a combustion engine and create no CO2 emissions. It is however important to note that by every storage a part of the electricity is lost, thereby increasing the cost of energy for renewables such as solar and wind.
Smart grid
The transition towards a low-carbon society will
change both the way power is produced and the
way it is consumed. Smart grids are essentially
important to facilitate this transformation and
enable low-carbon energy technologies such as
electric vehicles and various renewable energy
sources. A smart grid is an electricity network
that uses digital and other advanced
technologies to monitor and manage the
transport of electricity from all sources to meet
the varying electricity demands of end-users.
Smart grids coordinate end-users and electricity
market stakeholders to operate all parts of the
system as efficiently as possible, minimizing
costs and environmental impacts while
maximizing system reliability and stability. The
concept of smart grid makes sense in large
scales, where cross-border aspects and
different energy sources are connected. The
"smartening" of the electricity system is an
evolutionary process and not a onetime event.
Nuclear Technologies
Despite recent accidents and public opposition,
nuclear power is back on the agenda of many
countries, primarily for the following four
reasons: it has predictable long-term
generation costs, as it is not exposed to the
volatile fossil fuels markets, in terms of
levelized costs is economically competitive
with renewables or fossil kilowatt-hour and is
carbon neutral to prevent climate changes.
The big five nuclear generation countries
account for 67% of the total nuclear generated
electricity in the world according to World
Energy Council. The number of nuclear plants
operating in the United States in 2014 was 100.
Another 100 nuclear plants are currently
planned or under the construction in Asia-
Pacific region. The countries with a steady
increase in nuclear generation are China, Russia
and Czech Republic.
The emerging economies (mainly China, Russia
and India) are expected to dominate the
expansion and development of nuclear power as
they need to use all options to meet their
rapidly growing electricity demand and secure
certain economic growth. Russian and Chinese
suppliers will soon meet the need of their
domestic markets and will be able to meet
demands of large-scale exports. Two-thirds (44)
of the nuclear plants under construction are
located in three countries: China, India and
Russia.
The average construction time of the 34 units
that started up in the world between 2003 and
2013 was 9.4 years. Thus, the construction of
nuclear plants need long-term political
stability. At least 15 countries are currently
building nuclear power plants, for example, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) started
construction of a commercial nuclear power
plant at Barrakah in July 2012 (advanced light
water reactor APR 1400 designed by Korean
Kepco). In Russia, ten reactors are under active
construction to be in operation by 2017
totalling about 9.2 GW, about 14 further
reactors are planned to add new capacity and
to replace obsolete plants. This will increase
Russia's present nuclear power capacity by 50%
in 2020.
Light water reactor (LWR)
Most nuclear reactors in operation today are
thermal neutron reactors, where fast moving
neutrons released in the fission process are
slowed down to thermal velocity before they
can sustain the chain reaction. The light water
thermal reactors produce heat by
controlled nuclear fission, use uranium-235 as
fissile fuel and normal water as a coolant and
Capacity and share (%) in electricity generation
in 2013 GW %
USA 99 19
France 63 77
Japan 49 19
Russia 24 18
South Korea 20 30
Germany 12 18
China 18 2
Switzerland 3.3 40
Content
1 Emerging Nuclear Technologies
2 Energy Consumption
3 Political Environment
4 Renewable Energies Overview
5 Supporting Technologies
6 Nuclear Technologies
7 Comparison of aspects
8 Swiss Energy Strategy
9 Companies Mentioned
10 Key Sources
Supporting technologies
energy storage
smart grid
oth
ers
nucl
ear
Modern Renewables
sola
r
win
d
hyd
ro
bio
geo
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neutron moderator, they produce long-term (up
to millions of years) nuclear waste, which
requires a geologically stable repository.
Fast breeder reactor
Alternative type of reactors are fast neutron
breeder reactors generating more fissile fuel
than they use from fertile materiel uranium-238
or thorium-232. Fast reactors are a type of
breeder reactors, where fission chain reaction
is sustained by fast neutrons, no moderator is
needed. Operating in a “closed fuel cycle” fast
reactors reprocess spent fuel after its initial use
in a reactor. Instead of sending the spent fuel
into storage and eventually long term disposal,
the materials are reused. Uranium-238 or
thorium-232 are converted into fissile
plutonium-239 or uranium-233 by exposure to
radiation (neutrons) in a reactor. Fissile
material is nuclear fuel, usually uranium-235,
plutonium-239 or uranium-233 that can sustain
a fission chain reaction. By exploiting uranium-
238 (composing approximately 99% of the
natural uranium) instead of uranium-235
significantly improves nuclear fuel efficiency.
Fast reactors can be used to breed more fissile
material than they consume or to burn nuclear
waste. The combination of these two modes has
major implications for the long-term
sustainability of nuclear energy and the
production of carbon-free energy.
In mid-2014 Russia put in operation the most
powerful commercial fast breeder reactor BN-
800 in Beloyarsk. BN-800 which is an
evolutionary development of earlier breeder
designs BN-350 and BN-600. It uses a mixture of
uranium-238 and fissile plutonium-239, and it
breeds more plutonium as it burns.
Already in 2009, Russia and China initiated a
cooperation on the Sanming nuclear power
station in Fujian province, which includes the
construction of two BN-800 reactor power units
with 800 MW capacity each. A more
powerful BN-1200 fast reactor is being
developed as a next step towards Gen IV designs
with the plant operation by 2020.
Small modular reactors (SMR)
are new reactors of smaller capacity of 45 MW
or 100 MW that are simple, safe and cheap.
Building gigawatt-scale nuclear plants assumes
the presence of an appropriately scaled electric
grid infrastructure. If this infrastructure is not
present, and it is not in many developing
countries, then different technologies are
needed, namely, grid-appropriate (modular)
nuclear reactors. SMRs can be built quickly and
could replace existing coal plants that do not
meet air quality emission standards. It could be
deployed in small countries or countries with
limited electrical grid. The choice of SMRs
designs (water-cooled, breeders, or other
alternatives) and exact implication is often
managed by engineering companies. SMRs are
being made using passive safety features and
inherent safety features. Passive safety
features are engineered and do not require
outside input to work. Therefore, SMR
developers are claiming that their designs will
require fewer staff members and less
supervision to run the reactor.
Thorium Reactor
The thorium reactor is a breeder reactor with
fertile material thorium-232 instead of
uranium-238. Not fissile thorium-232 under the
neutron irradiation is transformed into fissile
uranium-233 with almost no plutonium as by-
product. Thorium is three times as abundant as
uranium and can be explored more safely and
efficiently than uranium. There is up to
hundred times less nuclear waste compared to
presently used light water reactors. In the
breeder type of reactor thorium fuel is used
more efficiently so that a more sustainable
energy generation is achieved. The thorium fuel
cycle still needs to be fully understood. The
significant disadvantages are expensive testing,
licensing work as well as creating new industrial
infrastructure for the thorium fuel cycle. India
has one of the largest supplies of thorium in the
world. So, India's nuclear power program is
focused on developing an advanced heavy-
water thorium cycle to utilise the country's
abundant thorium.
Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)
MSR is a reactor, which uses salt of thorium or
uranium dissolved in liquid LiF. Such reactors
are designed to be meltdown proof (because
they are already melted). The nuclear fuel is
dissolved in the coolant itself. In the event of a
power failure or if temperatures exceed a set
limit, the fuel is drained into an underground
tank for safe storage. There are about 20 firms
worldwide looking for this technology, but the
new cycle scheme is not fully researched. The
end of the viability R&D phase is suggested to
end by 2025. However, the prototype reactor
was operating in the United States in the 1960s.
Accelerator Driven System (ADS)
ADS is a reactor system, which combines a high intensity proton accelerator and a nuclear reactor. The accelerator controls and drives the reactor: by delivering proton beam to spallation target, fast neutrons are produced to ignite the chain reaction. If the accelerator stops, the reactor stops and no runaway chain reaction is possible. Accidents like in Chernobyl are not possible, because the reactor can't be “critical” if the accelerator stops. Current research MYRRHA project (Belgium) is scheduled to be in
Content
1 Emerging Nuclear Technologies
2 Energy Consumption
3 Political Environment
4 Renewable Energies Overview
5 Supporting Technologies
6 Nuclear Technologies
7 Comparison of aspects
8 Swiss Energy Strategy
9 Companies Mentioned
10 Key Sources
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operation by 2023 and is planned to be used in nuclear waste reprocessing.
Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR)
TWR is under design by Bill Gates' company
Terrapower, it uses uranium-238 or spent
fuel removed from light water reactors and
burns it until the end. TWR shall have a longer
operation period with up to 50 years without
refuelling compared to the presently existing
reactors with a refuelling cycle of several years.
The company says it is working with partners in
China, Russia, India, Japan and South Korea.
Terrapower states that construction of a 600
MW prototype is planned for 2018-2022
followed by operation of commercial plants of
1’150 MW starting late 2020s.
Thermonuclear Reactor (Fusion)
Nuclear fusion is a process that powers the sun.
The idea is to control released fusion energy.
Nuclear fusion is a much cleaner energy source
than fission and also very sustainable as the
amount of fuel for fusion is practically
unlimited (light elements: hydrogen, helium
and boron). The amount of radioactive waste
produced should be hundreds of times less than
that of a fission reactor. The inherent safety
characteristics of a fusion reactor are linked to
the very low fuel inventory in the reactor during
operation and the absence of a "chain reaction".
Technology leader is the ITER Organization
(France), which is a test facility with 500 MW
thermonuclear reactor and is a joint research
project of the United States, the European
Union, Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, and
India. In 2010, the total price of constructing
the experiment was estimated to be around
EUR 15bn. A number of much smaller and
cheaper alternative fusion concepts are also
under study now, with government and private
venture capital funding e.g. Tri Alpha Energy
(USA), General Fusion (Canada), Budker
Institutes of Nuclear Physics (Russia).
There are also plans to use fusion reactors in a
hybrid mode to bread fuel for fission reactors.
Comparison of aspects
The continuous increase of global power
demand and CO2 emissions will force countries
to employ nuclear power or additional
renewables in the long run. Countries which are
serious about an alternative energy future,
need to develop a plan. For illustration, we
show below several numbers for comparison of
nuclear, wind and solar.
The total land area of the earth is 149m km2,
the land area of Switzerland is 0.041m km2 and
the area of the Sahara is 9.4m km2.
In 2014 nuclear power plants world-wide
counted 437. To provide additional 15 TW by
2050 as projected by World Energy Council,
would require 15’000 1-GW nuclear power
plants. All these new nuclear power stations
required to fill the gap, would occupy
approximately 0.015m km2, assuming roughly
one km2 of required area for an average 1-GW
nuclear plant. Assuming for simplicity of
comparison the same capacity factor of roughly
90% as for nuclear for wind and solar plants to
cover 15 TW would occupy an area of
approximately 3,6m km2 and 0.45m km2,
respectively. For illustration purposes, the use
of wind and solar vs. nuclear energy would
roughly require 270 times more space. While
the whole of India would need to be covered for
solar & wind, only a third of Switzerland would
be required to close the global energy gap by
deploying nuclear power plants: in a time of
growing populations in particular in the lesser
developed countries, the use of land is an
important opportunity cost to be brought into
any analysis.
A possible comparison of the discussed Gen IV
designs in terms of industrial availability, waste
produced or reprocessed, fuel efficiency,
construction costs and safety is shown as per
below with three evaluation degrees: ++ , +- , -
- , where "+" stands for good/efficient/cheap
and "-" stands for poor/not efficient/expensive.
* Note that it is difficult to access the weaknesses precisely
for designs in pre or at proof-of-concept stages
Safety margin of core damage frequency
according to INPRO standards count 1 in
thousand years for Gen I built in 70s, 1 in 10
thousand years for Gen II built in 80s, 1 in 10
thousand to 100 thousand years for Gen II built
Comparison of nuclear reactor designs
+ + + + - + + - -
+ + - - - - - (-)
- + + + + + + + +
- + - + + + - (+)
- + + + + + + + +
- + - + - + - (+)
Construction + + + + - + + - -
Cost - - - - - - + (-)
+ + + + + + + + +
- - + - + - - (+)
Fusion
BN 800
MSR
Thoriu
mADS
TWR
SMR
LWR
Industrial
availability
Waste
Fuel Efficiency
Safety
Design Type
Land use nuclear vs. land use of solar & wind
Content
1 Emerging Nuclear Technologies
2 Energy Consumption
3 Political Environment
4 Renewable Energies Overview
5 Supporting Technologies
6 Nuclear Technologies
7 Comparison of aspects
8 Swiss Energy Strategy
9 Companies Mentioned
10 Key Sources
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in the 90s, 1 in 100 thousand to 1 million years
for Gen II - III built in 2000.
Today the required standard is 1 in a million to
10 million years.
In case of an accident, modern reactors are
passively cooled and do not require
traditionally used active cooling for several
days after the shutdown as was in the case of
Fukushima (“old” Gen II). Also, constant
modernization and maintenance of a nuclear
plant is very important and was not properly
done at the Fukushima power plant.
Passive safety and waste reprocessing should be
the new standard for all reactor designs going
forward.
As discussed above modern renewables and
nuclear power have specific advantages and
disadvantages when being compared to one
another. It is important to consider the
geographic location, economic and political
factors coupled with the right choice of the
energy mix for each particular country. With
power demand doubling by 2050 and taking into
consideration ecological constraints we
conclude that it will require a sensible global
energy mix: a possible combination could be a
third fossil fuels, a third renewable (mainly
contributed by solar, wind, and hydro) and a
third nuclear power.
Swiss Energy Strategy
Switzerland is the only country where the
federal government decided to quit its nuclear
energy program post the Fukushima accident.
While Germany, Belgium and Spain decided to
exit prior to the accident.
As part of that decision, Switzerland has
formulated an “energy strategy 2050” where
the following overriding aspects need to be
dealt with:
- How to close the energy gap due to
increased demand and the expected
phasing out of the nuclear energy plants
- Replacement of old power plants and grid
infrastructure
- Market liberalization and cooperation with
Europe
With respect to closing the energy gap, the VSE (association of electricity producers) has mapped out different strategies. The key messages are that hydro (due to resource and environmental constraints) and coal (environmental and transportation cost) based energy will not grow. This suggests that (i) natural gas imports, (ii) electricity imports and (iii) renewable energies need to fill the gap. Switzerland has low potential for renewables:
low capacity factors and area available for solar and wind power plants. If Switzerland wants to remain largely energy self-sufficient, nuclear energy will need to remain an important pillar in the energy mix.
Switzerland has always been involved in most of
the European nuclear projects with world
famous scientific institutes like CERN and PSI. It
was and we believe it should remain key for the
country to retain its nuclear know-how and
competences of running a nuclear plant and
being involved in research for future
generations of nuclear plants.
Companies Mentioned
Key Sources
[1] World Energy Council 2013, World Energy
Resources.
[2] World Energy Council 2013, Composing
energy futures to 2050.
[3] Bloomberg, New energy finance, Global
trends in renewable energy investment
2014.
[4] Ren21 Steering committee, Renewables
2014 Global Status report.
[5] Stephen M. Goldberg and Robert Rosner,
Nuclear Reactors: Generation to
Generation, American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, 2011.
[6] Interview with Dr. Marco Streit, Head of
Isotope and Element Analysis Group, PSI,
Switzerland.
[7] China Electricity Council (CEC)
[8] Bill Gates TED 2010 Presentation, The Wall
Street Journal 2012
Companies in the sector (nuclear & renewables)
Name Country Sector Technology Description
Belenos Clean Power CH storage fuel cells
Envergate Energy CH renewable wind
Landis & Gyr CH distribution smart grid & metering
Agile Windpower CH renewable wind
Avelar RU/CH renewable solar
Tesla motors USA automotive electric car
Tri Alpha Energy USA nuclear fusion
TerraPower USA nuclear fission
General Fusion USA nuclear fusion
Lockheed Martin Corp. USA nuclear fusion
General Atomics USA nuclear fission
Gen4 Energy USA nuclear SMR fission
Westinghouse USA nuclear fission
Budker Institute RU nuclear fusion
Kurchatov Institute RU nuclear fission, fusion
OKBM Afrikantov RU nuclear fission
Rosatom RU nuclear fission
Thorium power CAN nuclear fission
Thor Energy NO nuclear fission
ITER International nuclear fusion
MYRRHA EU nuclear fission
Areva F nuclear fission
Kepco ROK nuclear fission
Toshiba JP nuclear fission
Mitsubishi JP nuclear fission
Content
1 Emerging Nuclear Technologies
2 Energy Consumption
3 Political Environment
4 Renewable Energies Overview
5 Supporting Technologies
6 Nuclear Technologies
7 Comparison of aspects
8 Swiss Energy Strategy
9 Companies Mentioned
10 Key Sources
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Team
Urban Schwerzmann Partner
Nadja Teichert Partner
Gero Wendenburg Partner
Angelina Parfenova Intern
About Infrasuisse
Infrasuisse is a partner-owned, independent advisory and investment firm providing
capital and structured financial solutions to small and medium-sized companies or
to specific investment projects such as asset and project financings.
Our extensive and broad financial expertise, long standing network combined with the
access to a broad, global and in-depth investor base including LPs, banks, Investment
Funds, Family Offices and other institutional investors, make us a preferred partner
for our clients
Philosophy
Since 2001 we have successfully acted on behalf of our clients with the aim of closing
transactions and meeting our clients’ expectations. While the corporate and asset life
cycles may appear similar, there are many differences in the way a financing can be
structured depending on the type of underlying risk, cash flow, legal structure or
security involved.
Key for successful deal structuring is to understand the expectations of all parties
involved. In order to manage the different parties (lawyers, investors, banks,
appraisers, auditors et al.) efficiently, it requires both intuition and discipline in order
to keep transaction cost within the budget. We value the insight of an entrepreneur
and a leading shareholder highly and like to work with our clients in a team.
Through our “open source” Infrasuisse Partnering Platform approach we strive to grow
the collective know-how to the benefit of our clients.
Focus
Our clients are mainly based in the German speaking markets. However, we also
manage and advise on corporate and asset based transactions throughout Europe,
where our international network can be of help. We have also been mandated for
projects in the US, UK, Sweden, Russia and the UAE. We are preferably working on
transactions not exceeding an enterprise value of EUR 500 million and usually try to
stay away from transactions where public capital markets play a dominant role.
In select cases we are investing our own funds in the form of direct investments either
in the form of private debt or equity. We also do support Family Offices on specific
topics such as relocations and alternative investments.
We have gathered specific know-how in the areas of branded consumer products,
fashion, contracted research, biotech, IT, renewable energy and transportation across
most corporate and asset life-cycles.
Growth through
partnering
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