nucleareurope engages in wide range of Enlit Europe sessions

On Wednesday 11 November, nucleareurope Director General Emmanuel Brutin travelled to Vienna to participate in the Enlit Europe conference, which brought together 15,000 energy transition professionals to discuss the EU energy system and its decarbonisation pathways.

As part of the event, Emmanuel participated in multiple panel sessions, and recorded a podcast on nuclear’s role in EU decarbonisation.

The first session in which Emmanuel intervened in provided various perspectives on the current energy mix, and explored opportunities to turn energy transition strategy into reality. In his intervention, Emmanuel highlighted the contribution of nuclear in the current and future EU energy mix. He specifically insisted on nuclear’s role in stabilising the power system by providing a constant supply of net-zero electricity.

“Nuclear is vital to the stability of the European power system and, together with renewables, helps drive power prices down by reducing reliance of fossil imports while providing significant savings on system costs” noted Emmanuel during the panel. A point which he reiterated the second session he intervened in, which addressed the question of whether the EU is still on track to reach its climate targets.

Emmanuel’s intervention in this second session focused on policy trends and their impact on the energy sector. It provided him an opportunity to insist on the importance of encouraging electrification to help reach our climate targets, and to call for policies which promote the uptake of both nuclear and renewables, especially in view of the upcoming post-2030 energy framework.

After recording a podcast on how new nuclear can help energy intensive industries decarbonise their processes, Emmanuel participated in the final session of the day, on new nuclear technologies. He discussed the role of the European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors in facilitating collaboration to address common challenges, such as licensing, financing or supply chain development.