It’s time for decisions: Emmanuel Macron will specify on Thursday his long-awaited plan to relaunch nuclear power in France, for which the state will take its share of the funding, said the Elyse.
The President of the Republic is expected Thursday in Belfort for a trip devoted to energy strategy, on the manufacturing site of the turbines equipping French nuclear power plants, owned since 2015 by the American GE Steam Power System.
This visit coincides with the imminent acquisition by EDF, from the American conglomerate, of the activities of the former Alstom in nuclear turbines. The controversial GE sale had been sealed when Emmanuel Macron was Minister of the Economy.
It is a trip of the president, it is his responsibility to act until the end, underlined Wednesday at the Elyse to justify the timetable for the trip to Belfort.
Emmanuel Macron, who has not yet formalized his candidacy for a second term, must in particular evoke the revival of the French nuclear industry, a theme very present in the electoral campaign.
He had already announced in November his intention to build new nuclear reactors.
The ambitions will be precise, indicates the Elyse. It is ecological, has produced carbon-free electricity, has contributed to our energy independence and has produced electricity that is very competitive, it has been argued.
EDF has already submitted to the state a proposal to build six EPR2 reactors (improved version of the EPR) for around fifty billion euros.
The group proposes to build them in pairs on three sites: first Penly (Seine-Maritime), near Dieppe, then Gravelines (North) and finally Bugey (Ain) or Tricastin (Drme).
The State will contribute and play its role in financing, also announced the Elyse.
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Several external audits have been carried out by the government to attest to the solidity of the costing by EDF and these elements will be made public in the days following the president’s speech, said the same source.
Emmanuel Macron must also speak on renewable energies, the development of which has lagged.
Electricity consumption increases immediately, building a new nuclear reactor is not before 15 years, so renewable energies are needed immediately, it was pointed out.
Energy savings are also on the agenda: there is a way in which we can reduce our consumption without losing quality of life or purchasing power.