The renaissance of nuclear energy in Europe and Bulgaria will play a very important role in increasing the competitiveness of the European Union. It needs its development, but also the production of hydrogen and opportunities to store the energy produced by renewable energy sources. Their increasing share creates problems and flexibility is needed. It is nuclear energy that can play a very important role here because it is flexible. These are part of the theses that were presented by experts gathered at a forum organized by the Bulgarian MEP Tsvetelina Penkova in Brussels, reported the special envoy of BGNES in Brussels.
Experts believe that some energy productions should not be opposed to others. Inaccurate claims that RES are cheaper than nuclear energy cannot be spread, because very often the bill for RES does not include their inclusion in the energy networks, which makes them significantly more expensive.
Rumen Tsonev, CEO of the KCM 2000 holding, emphasized that without heavy chemistry and metallurgy, the goals of the circular economy cannot be achieved, and this means staying somewhere in the middle on the way to achieving the green deal. He emphasized that in the EU almost no attention is paid to the possibilities of storing electricity with the help of the best batteries. These are lead-acid batteries. At the same time, the EU funds batteries such as lithium-ion, in which there is not a single metal to be mined in Europe. This in turn raises the reasonable question, who are we financing?
"In Europe, we produce lead, copper, and zinc. Lead is the basis of lead-acid batteries. They are the best batteries for storing electricity because 100% of the metals in them can be recycled," Rumen Tsonev explained.
Lithium-ion batteries can last 10-15 years, but what will be done with them after that? "We leave to our children the problems we cannot solve now. Where is the sustainability we are aiming for?” asked the executive director of the KCM.
He recalled that on March 14, the Ministry of Energy announced a huge program worth 430 million, which will finance the development of renewable energy sources and energy storage batteries. However, this program excludes lead-acid batteries because there are requirements that can only be met by lithium-ion batteries. "This program is financed with the money from the EU, which lays down demands that doom an entire industry to destruction. What kind of competition is it? We supplement the productions of China, India and Indonesia. Of these 430 million, the money will go to the Bulgarian economy only for the installation of those who will build the RES", complained Tsonev.
The head of "Eurohold" Asen Hristov emphasized that it is high time to separate the legislation regarding batteries, this is an oversight by the EC. "We must not falter on lithium-ion batteries, because in 10 years, where will we bury them? The EC must fill the gap with the batteries. This will be of great importance for the security and economy of Europe," he added.
Hristov emphasized the importance of nuclear energy as a key base energy. According to him, the problem is that nuclear energy is left at the national level, and each country decides how to develop this industry. At the same time, countries such as neighbouring Turkey are very quickly building a Russian-designed nuclear power plant near our border and receiving strategic support from Russia.
He noted that Bulgaria will build two new nuclear units at the Kozloduy NPP, which are very necessary, but also very expensive, which is why we need financial support from Europe.
Bogomil Manchev, chairman of Bulatom, stated that the big impetus for the development of nuclear energy in the last two years was its acceptance as green energy, which is an indisputable truth. An important point is that Bulgaria has joined the European countries that will develop this type of energy. According to him, if we want to reduce harmful emissions and reduce the rise in the temperature of the planet, then we cannot do without nuclear energy.
Nuclear power is practically independent, especially if you can mine nuclear ore on your territory and be able to send it to someone to enrich it. "Very long-spent nuclear fuel does not need to be buried, and it is fuel that can be used again," he added.
Nuclear energy is the lowest emission of all types of energy, it is the panacea at the moment. "If RES were the solution on Earth, God wouldn't have let us do nuclear energy. RES are an add-on to base energy. All of them put together cannot cover 3,000 hours of work," said Manchev.
He pointed out that with the help of renewable energy sources, in which we have invested 10 trillion, we have reduced carbon dioxide by only 1.7%. "If we had invested this money in RES, we would have reduced it by more than 40%," Manchev pointed out. "The Eastern world did not abandon nuclear energy, now China can make 25 blocks, the others all together cannot do that much. Bulgaria now aims to make four blocks, so far we have started with two. By 2051, we should have four units to replace the two that will fail,” he said. According to him, to make these four units, four mandates of four years each and a consistent policy are needed, as well as a state guarantee for the construction of the NPP.
Ivan Hinovski, from the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum, stated that no one is talking about waste from RES. In the US alone, they generate 8 million tons per year. He spoke out against the discriminatory treatment of nuclear energy compared to RES, and he spoke out for the creation of a common political and financial infrastructure for the construction of new nuclear capacities. "But nuclear power must be insulated from the interference of politics," Hinowski said.
Blagoi Burdin from the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences focused on the use of hydrogen and modern possibilities for energy storage.
According to him, all technologies have their place for energy storage, but if we want to introduce more renewables, then we will need seasonal energy storage. "The only solution then is hydrogen," Bourdin said. He pointed out that the introduction of new technologies requires knowledge, and gave a concrete example with the hydrogen trolleybus developed by his institute. "The idea is for hydrogen technologies in transport to come to Bulgaria, to educate society and experts. Without overcoming ignorance, technology cannot enter our society," he added.
There is also a hydrogen charging station in Bulgaria. Europe is divided in two by the spread of these technologies. "Our station could be the beginning of the deployment of this infrastructure in South-Eastern Europe", Burdin believes.
He stated that to continue the energy transition sensibly, we need to solve the problems of storing energy on a large scale. Support for building the hydrogen infrastructure, and support for energy storage technologies with local resources. The overall energy strategy, not just electricity. "Hydrogen without such a strategy does not make much sense," stressed Burdin. /BGNES
