Finance联社 reported on September 23rd that according to media reports, 14 large banks and financial institutions globally will commit to increasing their support for nuclear energy, with many governments and industries hoping that this move will support the financing of the latest wave of nuclear power plant construction.

The 14 financial institutions are reported to be Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, as well as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Ares Management, Brookfield, CIC Credit, Guggenheim, Rothschild Bank, Segra Capital Management, and Industrial Bank of France respectively.

These financial institutions will attend an event with John Podesta, the senior advisor on international climate policies to the U.S. President in New York on Monday, September 23, local time. They will express their support for the goal mentioned at the COP28 conference last year to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

It is understood that this event is part of the "New York Climate Week" which started on Sunday, September 22. Major banks have not yet specified specific action plans, but nuclear energy experts say that the public support for nuclear energy from these institutions has long been awaited acknowledgment by external parties.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) raised its expectations for nuclear power in the "Energy, Electricity, and Nuclear Power Outlook to 2050" released last week. Under the high expectations model, nuclear power capacity is projected to increase to 2.5 times the current level by 2050. Experts widely believe that nuclear energy will play a crucial role in the low-carbon energy transition.

World Nuclear Capacity Forecast Model Source: IAEA

However, financing nuclear power projects is difficult and costly, and has always been a major obstacle to building new nuclear power plants. Under the latest commitments, banks are expected to support new power plants by increasing direct loans and project financing to nuclear power companies, arranging bond sales, or introducing enterprises to private equity or credit funds.

George Borovas, a member of the World Nuclear Association's Management Committee, said that banks usually find it difficult to support new nuclear projects because such projects require high-level approval. "Senior management at banks will say, 'We know nothing about nuclear energy. We only know that nuclear energy is very challenging and highly controversial.'"

"This event will be a key game-changer," added Borovas, stating that bank support will help normalize nuclear energy as part of the solution to climate change.

According to BNP Paribas, without nuclear energy, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in any scenario is impossible. Barclays believes that participation in such projects is because nuclear energy can address the intermittency issues of wind energy and cecep solar energy.

Last Friday, $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ Announced an agreement with $Constellation Energy (CEG.US)$ signed a 20-year power supply agreement, the latter will also restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, USA. Earlier this month, $Oracle (ORCL.US)$ Announced the construction of 3 small nuclear power plants to provide power for its upcoming massive datacenter design.

James Schaefer, a senior executive at Guggenheim Securities, commented, "When you see these technology companies investing in nuclear energy through contracts, things start happening, and we are in discussions with them. The role of banks is to connect clients and investors with the producers and owners of this technology."

Editor / jayden