The Americas: a market with confirmed growth

AREVA's key figures in the region

Regional data and stakes

• 130 reactors

• 125 Gigawatt-electric installed in 2009

• 967 TWh (terawatt hours) of nuclear power generated in 2008 (vs. 953 TWh in 2007), to be compared with the total electricity generation in the Americas, everything combined, estimated at around 6247 TWh, representing a reduction of 0.2% in comparison with 2007.

• 15.9%: estimated percentage of electricity generated by nuclear power

• Share of electricity generated by nuclear power for different countries in the region: United States (19%), Canada (15%), Brazil (3%)

Prospects for the nuclear power market

In North America, utilities started to extend the service life of their reactors in 2000.

In the United States, this trend could be replaced, starting in 2010, by the re-launching of a program to build new power plants. The group intends to play a key role in this program by proposing its EPR™ reactor. The Energy Bill enacted by the government in 2005 offers numerous incentives to the electricity providers that will build the first plants.   

The Nuclear Regulation Commission (NRC) has received 18 permit requests for 28 nuclear projects in the country, three of which were for AREVA EPR projects, submitted by UniStar, a subsidiary of Constellation and EDF. EDF’s acquisition of 49% of Constellation Energy’s nuclear activities has been approved, which increases the probability of seeing construction of the first American EPR reactor.

AREVA and UniStar are also in talks with Duke Energy to develop an EPR project in Ohio. Secretary of U.S. Department of Energy, Steven Chu, has publicly supported research into the development of a closed cycle for nuclear fuel generation and declared in October 2009: “Nuclear energy is an important part of the developments the United States must undertake to reduce emissions.”

In Canada, but also in Latin America, the resurgence of interest in nuclear energy is apparent. Argentina has announced its intention to invest significantly in its nuclear program, including notably the completion of the Atucha 2 reactor, which should begin producing electricity in October 2011. Brazil has unveiled a plan to build 7 reactors in the next 20 years, starting with the completion of Angra 3.

Prospects for the renewable energy market

More than half of the states in North America have approved a law mandating a minimum share of 12% of electricity production to be from renewable energy sources by 2020. This share, called “Renewable Portfolio Standards” (RPS), represents a true vehicle for growth of renewable energy in the United States. In 2008, new renewable methods for producing electricity linked to the network represented 43%, compared to 2% in 2004.

In the southwest of the United States, solar energy is developing with the support of public assistance.

Latin America is one the most active regions for the development of bioenergy, as it has on a large amount of agricultural waste. The fixed capacity for biomass plants should grow significantly to reach 10GW (gigawatts) in 2015.

Brazil is the leader in the biomass market, due to its regions that are rich in sugarcane. Despite the governments efforts to limit sugarcane cultivation, in line with new environmental laws, the country should double its production as a result of the renovation of close to 80% of plants that use bagasse, in order to improve their output. Other resources, such as wood and household waste, will also contribute to this growth. In total, production capacity will rise to approximately 70GW.  

The bioenergy market is also developing in Chile, Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina.

Incentives have been put in place, such as the Proinfa program in Brazil and the Proure program in Colombia. Similar initiatives exist in Chile and Uruguay. Today, the primary driver stems from rising energy costs, which is enabling electricity production from bioenergy to become competitive without any incentives.