More wind farms, more reactors
Macron heralds the “renaissance of nuclear power”.
2/10/2022, 6:42 p.m
France is the only country to fail in achieving the goal of renewable energies it has set itself. Despite endlessly long coasts, there is no usable wind farm. President Macron is now announcing the construction and strengthening of nuclear power plants. Money flows into green electricity only to bridge the gap.
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the construction of up to 14 new nuclear reactors. By 2050, six new generation EPR reactors are to be built, said Macron in Belfort in eastern France. The construction of eight more should be examined. This means a “renaissance of nuclear power” in France, said the President.
Macron also advocated extending the lifetime of existing nuclear power plants “beyond 50 years”. The electricity company EDF has been instructed to check whether this is possible. No power plant should go off the grid if there are no compelling safety reasons for doing so. The start of construction for the new nuclear power plants is 2028. The first reactor could go online in 2035.
Ambitious offshore plans
In order to bridge the long construction period for the new nuclear power plants, France also wants to invest in renewable energies. “Since it takes 15 years to build a reactor, we need to increase the share of renewable energy,” Macron said. That is why 50 offshore wind farms should be built.
“We honestly have to admit that we’re late,” said Macron. The construction of 50 wind farms by 2050 has been announced. The capacity of the wind turbines on land should also be doubled. In order to double the generation of electricity from renewable energies by 2030, the power generated by solar energy should also be increased “almost tenfold”.
According to Macron, the offshore wind turbines will have an output of 40 gigawatts. The project is ambitious, while the announced expansion of the onshore facilities would be slower than previously assumed. France has so far only hesitantly pushed ahead with the expansion of renewable energies.
In 2020, it was the only EU country with 19 percent renewable energy, falling short of its self-imposed target of 23 percent. Although France has miles of coastline on the English Channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, there is still no functioning offshore wind farm.