Highlights from Finance Summit

World Nuclear Symposium: opening day wrap up

World Nuclear Symposium began on Wednesday 9 September with the Finance Summit. The Summit brought together the international nuclear and finance communities to develop a roadmap to mainstream finance for nuclear.

The Moment for Nuclear Finance is Now

Dr Sama Bilbao y León opened the Summit by charting how the nuclear conversation has moved from ‘whether’ to ‘how fast’ and identified the cost of capital as now being as significant as the cost of construction.

Key quotes:

• “Nuclear energy must be financed not as an exception, but as a mainstream asset class... let me emphasize, this is not just an energy investment story. It is essentially a development story and ultimately it is a societal story.” Dr Sama Bilbao y León, Director General, World Nuclear Association
• “Why is it that we treat nuclear as a category in itself, when in fact we just have to have good projects in our industry? That is the key.” Grant Isaac, President and Chief Operating Officer, Cameco

Launching the World Nuclear Investment Guide: A New Resource for a New Era

Dr Lola Infante described the Guide as a collaborative effort drawing on some 30–40 advisors from across the nuclear value chain and financial institutions, and set out its structure: a roadmap to mainstream finance, standardized tools and templates, recommendations for each stakeholder group, and thematic modules.

Podcast: Why is the World Nuclear Investment Guide needed?

Key quotes:

• “The way I look at it is as a tool that gets the nuclear and the finance communities closer together and better able to understand each other.” Dr Lola Infante, Senior Programme Lead, Economics and Finance, World Nuclear Association

Caption: Dr Sama Bilbao y León, Director General, and Dr Lola Infante, Senior Programme Lead, Economics and Finance, World Nuclear Association

Four members of the Guide’s advisory panel – Alejandro López Delgado (La Caisse), Mark Muldowney (BNP Paribas), Geoff Olynyk (OPG) and Ananya Modi (Rothschild & Co) – discussed why they contributed and what the Guide changes. Capital is available, they said, and investor interest has shifted from whether to when, but risk allocation remains bespoke and the pre-FID development phase is where capital is hardest to raise.

Key quotes:

• “I wish I had that Guide five years ago. As we keep being approached by governments and corporates about different projects, I will send them the Guide. It automatically accelerates the discussion.” Alejandro López Delgado, Managing Director, Infrastructure, La Caisse
• “In 2022–23, the question was often: are you ever going to invest in nuclear? The conversation now is: when are you going to invest?” Ananya Modi, Managing Director, Co-Head of Energy Financing, Rothschild & Co

Caption: Ananya Modi, Managing Director, Co-Head of Energy Financing, Rothschild & Co

Amir Adnani of Uranium Energy Corp described a $6 trillion “super cycle” driven by AI, reshoring and decarbonization, underpinned by bipartisan policy in the Unites States. Chris Thiele of J.P. Morgan and Richard Ma of CIBC Capital Markets said banks are not shying away from the opportunity but that first-of-a-kind projects will continue to need government de-risking.

Key quotes:

• “We are at the beginning of a multi-trillion dollar super cycle when it comes to nuclear growth and expansion. We’re in the first innings.” Amir Adnani, President and Chief Executive Officer, Uranium Energy Corp; Member of the Board, World Nuclear Association
• “The currency that we talk about is no longer just dollars, it’s electrons.” Richard Ma, Executive Director, Energy, Infrastructure and Transition Investment Banking, CIBC Capital Markets

Caption: Panel: The Scale of the Opportunity: Trillion-scale Reasons to Pay Attention

Key quotes:

• “If we get the next few reactors built right, capital will flow. The unknowns are not what frighten me. What frightens me is the hesitation of developers and investors to get to the next project.” Yvon Mompeyssin, Vice President of Business Development & Investment, ENEC

Partnering for Power: How Energy Users Are Shaping Nuclear Development

Lucia Tian of Google and Chad Eaton of Nucor described what they are asking of nuclear projects and what they can contribute as intelligent offtakers. Tian said Google sees its offtake as catalytic, pointing to the €1 billion life-extension of the Loviisa plant agreed with Fortum of Finland and announced this morning which was underpinned by a PPA with Google.

Key quotes:

• “Ultimately Google is an offtaker of electrons. We see Google’s offtake as enabling the industry and ultimately leading to financeable projects.” Lucia Tian, Director of Advanced Energy Technologies, Google

Google signs up for electricity from Finnish nuclear power plant

The Unfinished Agenda: What Still Needs to Happen and Who Needs to Do It?

The diverse closing panel featured representatives from private financial institutions, development banks, technology companies and the non-profit sector. When asked what they would like to see happen in the next 12 months, panelists named: a visible long-term project pipeline; a shared marketplace for investors and developers; philanthropy as convener; and closer cooperation between West African institutions, the World Bank and the IAEA.

Key quotes:

• “The aspirational long-term goal is that I can sign a nuclear offtake the way that I do wind and solar today.” Lucia Tian, Director of Advanced Energy Technologies, Google

Caption: Lucia Tian, Director of Advanced Energy Technologies, Google