The atom is divided into 25 years

According to Kommersant’s information, the Ministry of Energy has begun to optimize the capital and operating costs of new nuclear power plants in order to contain the load on the energy market, which will pay for their capacity. The capex ceiling will be fixed at the price of the last built nuclear power plants, and excess costs will be deducted from operating expenses. The total payment for the capacity of the new units will amount to 5 trillion rubles. for 25 years. Industry supports the ministry’s approach. In “Rosatom”, without naming the exact price parameters of their stations, they expect transparency of payments for capacity from the new methodology.

The Ministry of Energy will develop new approaches to calculating the payment for the capacity of nuclear power plants built after 2024. The main task is to optimize CAPEX and OPEX objects, sources familiar with the discussion of the issue told Kommersant. Rosatom is building new plants under the mechanism of capacity supply contracts (CDA): after the launch, the power unit will receive increased payments for capacity in order to return investments. A guaranteed payback has already been received by two units of the Kursk NPP-2 at VVER-TOI reactors.

When calculating CAPEX, the Ministry of Energy will focus on the actual cost of building the latest nuclear power plants on VVER-1200, most similar to VVER-TOI, several interlocutors told Kommersant.

It is proposed to set the ceiling for the unit price of costs at the level of the cost of Novovoronezh NPP-2 – 184.1 thousand rubles. per 1 kW (in 2021 prices).

The most controversial issue is the definition of operating costs. Rosenergoatom (REA, part of Rosatom, manages Russian nuclear power plants) estimated OPEX at 1.89 million rubles. per 1 MW, taking into account the costs of the central office (see “Kommersant” dated August 23, 2022A).

According to Kommersant, the limit OPEX proposed by the Ministry of Energy will be about 1.41 million rubles. per 1 MW (in 2021 prices).

The ministry wants to exclude from OPEX, in particular, hospitality expenses of the central office of the REA, the cost of translators, advertising, medical insurance and legal costs, Kommersant’s sources say.

It is assumed that the CAPEX of every second block will decrease. Each next block will also have a lower OPEX. The new methodology will be enshrined in a government decree.

One of Kommersant’s sources noted that the proposals of the Ministry of Energy were approved by the government, the ministry was instructed to develop regulations to determine contracts and parameters for new nuclear power plants after 2025, and the FAS – a pricing methodology. “It’s too early to talk about specific parameters for prices,” the interlocutor of Kommersant notes.

CSA term for new NPPs, as reported by “Kommersant”, can be 25 years, the basic yield is 10.5% per year. With these parameters, the total payment of the energy market for the capacity of eight units can be about 5.1 trillion rubles. (in 2021 prices). If the term of the CSA is 40 years with a yield of 8% or 60 years with a yield of 6%, then the total load on the energy market for the supply period will also be approximately 5.1 trillion rubles.

The REA told Kommersant that the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Economy, the Federal Antimonopoly Service and Rosatom are working on improving the CSA mechanism, namely, on introducing marginal (reference) indicators for the return of capital and operating costs, establishing a base yield and a CSA period. “The work is aimed at balancing the interests of nuclear generation and consumers, including the transparency of the payment calculation and the predictability of the burden on consumers,” they noted.

Previously, the payment for capacity under CSA of NPPs was calculated on the basis of actual costs incurred.

The formation of a new CSA mechanism is “the next important step in improving the efficiency of the wholesale energy market,” according to the REA. “As for the numbers, at the stage of preparing the report of the Ministry of Energy, they were agreed upon by all departments, including Rosatom,” the concern said. “Nevertheless, work continues, and it is correct to name specific numbers only after the relevant government decree is issued.” The Ministry of Energy, the FAS and the Ministry of Economy did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Industrial energy consumers support the proposals of the Ministry of Energy to optimize the capital and operating costs of new nuclear power plants.

“It is necessary to make payments for new nuclear power units and their possible effects on the economy more comparable, otherwise why overpay for new technology,” Kommersant was told in the Community of Energy Consumers.

Among the new VVER-TOI options is power maneuvering. According to REA estimates, the daily range of active power change is from 100% to 50% of the rated power.

Compared to the blocks operating in the Russian Federation, such maneuverability is unique, but it is unlikely to be in demand and bring a real commercial effect, Oleg Dudikhin from Kept believes. There is no shortage of control capacities in the energy system of the Russian Federation, and the operation of nuclear power plants is most cost-effective in the base mode.

However, units at VVER-TOI may be of interest to countries with relatively small power systems or with a shortage of maneuvering capacities, Mr. Dudikhin says. In his opinion, CAPEX of $2.35 thousand per 1 kW is a rather modest figure compared to foreign projects. Abroad, CAPEX can vary in the range of $3,000-7,000 per 1 kW, and the cost of generation, fixed in supply contracts for the payback period, can be $45-75 per 1 kWh.

Polina Smertina