Solar and wind energy cheaper than nuclear energy | Fact check

The Labor Party and GroenLinks are against the construction of new nuclear power stations in Zeeland, as can be read in their joint election programme. One of the arguments: “Nuclear energy is not cheaper than sustainable energy.”

However, other parties claim the opposite. Volt in South Holland says that nuclear energy can guarantee ‘affordable energy’. The PVV in Drenthe calls it a ‘cheap energy supply’, and the local Alliance party in the same province calls it an ‘affordable interim solution for the energy transition’. Is nuclear energy more or less expensive than renewable energy?

The Senate approved the Climate Act on 28 May 2019. It states that CO2 emissions must be reduced by 49 percent in 2030 (compared to 1990), and 95 percent less in 2050. In order to achieve these targets, municipalities, provinces, water boards, social partners and the national government have agreed in 2020 drafted the first draft version of the so-called Regional Energy Strategy (RES): a joint strategy of the 30 energy regions in the Netherlands to generate sustainable energy.

An electricity fact sheet is available on the RES websites. It shows the costs of various forms of energy in euros per megawatt hour. This shows that sustainable energy such as wind (60 euros per MWh) and solar energy (80 €/MWh) is slightly cheaper than nuclear energy (90 €/MWh). Biomass is also mentioned, but those costs have a considerable range: from 57 to no less than 190 euros per MWh. Generating electricity with the thrust of rivers and streams (80 to 210 euros per MWh) is also mentioned, but that is hardly profitable in the flat Netherlands.

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What the RES has done once for the Netherlands, the American investment bank Lazard does annually for worldwide use. In their annual Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) analysis, they compare the costs per energy source. They add up all the costs and compare this with the electricity generated. In other words: How expensive is the electricity if you include all costs?

In the most recent LCOE, nuclear energy emerges as one of the most expensive forms of energy. Lazard calculates that nuclear energy in 2021 cost no less than 167 dollars per MWh. That is considerably higher than what is charged for wind energy ($38 per MWh) and large-scale solar energy ($36/MWh). These sustainable energy sources have also become considerably cheaper in the past 10 years, while nuclear energy has risen in costs.

On the other hand, a nuclear power plant generates energy 80 to 90 percent of the time, even when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing.

Both the RES and Lazard view nuclear power as one of the most expensive forms of power generation. The costs you have to incur per generated capacity is greater than sustainable variants, such as solar and wind energy. The joint claim of PvdA and Groenlinks is correct: nuclear energy is ‘not cheaper than sustainable energy’.

Party program PvdA and Groenlinks in Zeeland
Party program Volt in South Holland
Party program PVV in Drenthe
Party program Alliance in Drenthe
Climate law
Information about the RES
Factsheet Electricity on website RES
Lazard’s Levelized Cost Of Energy Analysis version 15.0