Taking the Investment Pulse: Q3 2023

Blog

ESG & Climate Finance, Climate Finance

Kayley Deaton

October 26, 2023

Last year was a big year for clean energy investments, and nuclear was no exception. However, venture capital and private equity investments into climate tech across the board fell 40 percent in 2023, according to PwC’s recent report.

This may seem like a cause for concern, but PwC chalks it up to economic uncertainty broadly and found that clean energy deals as a proportion of start-up investments still continued to rise.

While there have been headwinds for climate tech investments at large, there was actually significant movement for nuclear in this space during the third quarter. Let’s break it down.

Trends

Customer Deals: An area where nuclear energy really shines is reliability—nuclear can provide clean power 24/7/365, which makes it an attractive asset to power-intensive customers who are looking to feasibly and affordably decarbonize.

International Debate: Next-generation nuclear is winning over more and more of the international community, and this quarter had a swell of announcements. But there’s contention in certain corners of the world, particularly the European Union.

Economic Impact: Something nuclear energy doesn’t get enough praise for is its positive impact on local economies. Constructing and operating these nuclear plants creates good-paying jobs, but they also generate millions in property taxes—often in underfunded communities relying on that revenue for their school system and first responders. U.S. Senator (and 2024 presidential candidate) Tim Scott even included increased nuclear production in his economic plan.

Stock Performance: In our last issue of Taking the Investment Pulse, we talked about the bull market on uranium. That hasn’t really changed, though there has been more broad discussion on the performance of nuclear stocks and investment vehicles.

According to one estimate, revenues [from nuclear exports] for U.S. companies alone could be $1.9 trillion over the next 30 years.

Maria Korsnick, NuScale Power’s Analyst Day

Announcements

U.S. Developments: It was a busy quarter for U.S. companies in the nuclear energy industry—a public offering announcement, a next-generation reactor went live, and more.

International Developments: The U.S. is forging deeper ties with the international community through its commercial nuclear agreements, as more governments pursue nuclear power to meet their clean energy goals and ensure energy independence.

98%25 of professional investors consider nuclear energy to be “green” and a valid contributor to the net-zero transition.

HANetf Thematic & Digital Assets Review

Commentary

The investment community has been slowly coming around to nuclear energy, but the third quarter still held some surprises. For example, Google encouraged corporate customers to invest in emerging technologies, like next-generation nuclear, to ensure more affordable decarbonization efforts. Here are some other interesting discussions happening in the space: