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Jul 21, 2013

China feed in tariff price for nuclear energy will boost nuclear power in China while still providing globally competitive electricity prices

A price of RMB0.43 will be paid for each kilowatt-hour generated by new Chinese nuclear power plants, according to a ruling by the National Development and Reform Commission intended to incentivise construction. This equates to $70/MWh. Separately generators pay RMB0.0026/kWh ($4.2/MWh) for used fuel management. This it the cost of the nuclear power which EIA estimates at about $30-40 per MWh. This price to the suppliers is lower than the price of wind and energy feed in tariffs provided in European countries which can be several times higher to a little big higher (in the UK for large wind or hydro).

1 RMB or CNY (Chinese Yuan) is 0.1629 USD. 0.43 times that is 7 cents per kwh.

This price seems likely to greatly boost the amount of nuclear energy that will be constructed in China, while still leaving China with globally competitive electricity prices.

7 cents per kwh is a lower price than the price of electricity for most countries in the world Only some middle eastern and eastern european countries have lower prices.

Nuclear tariff 20% less than China Wind and 20% more than coal in China

As of August 2011 a China national feed-in tariff for solar projects was issued, and is about US$0.15 per kWh. The China wind tariffs per kilowatt hour are set at 0.51 yuan, 0.54 yuan, 0.58 yuan and 0.61 yuan. These represent a significant premium on the average rate of 0.34 yuan per kilowatt hour paid to coal-fired electricity generators.

The China feed in tariff is less than the tariffs for wind in Europe.
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