(Original title: France announced a clean energy development plan to build at least 6 nuclear reactors in the future)
Financial Associated Press (Shanghai, edited by Xia Junxiong),French President El Macron announced on Thursday (February 10) that France will build at least six new nuclear reactors in the coming decades, while also accelerating the development of solar and offshore wind power.
In terms of renewable energy, France plans to increase its solar power capacity by 10 times to more than 100 gigawatts by 2050, and plans to build 50 offshore wind farms with a total capacity of at least 40 gigawatts, the first offshore wind farm The wind power project will come online this year.
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According to Macron, the new nuclear power plants will be built and operated by EDF, and the government will provide tens of billions of euros in public financing for these projects to safeguard EDF’s financial position.
EDF, a company 84% owned by the French government, is currently heavily indebted and faces cost overruns at its nuclear power plants in France and the UK. Shares in EDF have fallen 18% so far this year.
Macron gave no specifics but said the French government would act responsibly to ensure the financial stability of the state-owned utility. The cost of the six new reactors is around 50 billion euros, depending on the financing conditions, according to EDF estimates.
Macron said the first new reactor, an evolution of the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR), will be commissioned in 2035, and research will start on eight more reactors in addition to the initial six new nuclear power plants. Macron expects new projects to generate 25 gigawatts of electricity by 2050.
Although more than two-thirds of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power, the country last commissioned a new nuclear reactor in 2002. After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, some European countries became more cautious in the development of nuclear power. Taking France as an example, Macron and his predecessors have publicly pledged to reduce the proportion of nuclear energy in France’s energy structure.
Putting nuclear energy at the heart of carbon neutrality goals
However, with the European Union setting a goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, Macron’s government is starting to put nuclear energy at the heart of achieving carbon neutrality.
On the other hand, in the context of rising natural gas prices, Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas imports has also raised concerns, and the French government believes that Europe should be more energy independent.