Proxy wars and meddling have profoundly affected the developing world and contributed to ongoing trouble in some areas. Many Cold War ideas and attitudes still colour our political ideology and language. If the level drops below 300 TWh, it would be at its lowest since 1990.Ĭompounding EDF's difficulties, Macron, who faces a re-election battle in two months and is striving to head off public anger over rising energy bills, has ordered the utility to sell more cheap power to rivals – a move that is will knock about 8 billion euros off EDF's 2022 core earnings.ĮDF's share price is down 18% so far in 2022.ĮDF confirmed on Thursday it would buy a France-based nuclear turbine unit from General Electric as the utility looks to bundle nuclear activities deemed to be strategic.The nation-building and internationalism of the Cold War, along with many of the political and military alliances forged during the period, continue to endure. Separately, EDF this week revised lower its output forecast for its nuclear fleet to 295-315 TWh compared with 361 TWh last year, in part due to extended reactor shutdowns due to corrosion problems in several reactors. EPR projects at Flamanville in France and Hinkley Point in Britain are running years behind schedule and billions over budget, while EPR reactors in China and Finland have been hit by technical issues. The state will assume its responsibilities in securing EDF's finances and its short- and medium-term financing capacity," Macron said.ĮDF's EPR reactors have suffered a troubled history. Macron said the state would assume its responsibilities in securing EDF's finances, indicating that the government may inject fresh capital into the 84% state-owned firm. If the new EU taxonomy rules are approved, it should reduce the cost of financing nuclear energy projects. Green energy campaign group Association negaWatt accused Macron of "deepening France's addiction" to nuclear.įrance lobbied hard for nuclear to be labelled as sustainable under new European Commission rules on green financing. France has not made that choice," Macron said. "Certain countries have made the extreme choice of turning their back on nuclear energy. Nuclear safety still divides Europe after Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011. Macron's decision to extend the lifespan of existing plants marked a U-turn on an earlier pledge to close more than a dozen of EDF's 56 reactors by 2035. Studies for a further eight reactors beyond the initial half-dozen new plants would be launched, he added.įrance will also increase its solar power capacity tenfold by 2050 to more than 100 gigawatts (GW) and target building 50 offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of at least 40 GW. The first new reactor, an evolution of the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), would come online by 2035, Macron said. Surging energy prices and concerns about Europe's reliance on imported Russian gas have also persuaded French officials of the region's need for more energy independence.ĮDF estimates the cost of six new reactors at about 50 billion euros ($57.36 billion), depending on financing conditions. Macron's thinking has been reshaped by the European Union’s ambitious goals for carbon neutrality within three decades, which put renewed focus on energy forms that emit fewer, or zero, greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, including nuclear. The nuclear blueprint cements France's commitment to nuclear power, a mainstay of the country's postwar industrial prowess but whose future was uncertain after Macron and his predecessor had promised to reduce its weight in the country's energy mix. The announcement comes at a difficult time for debt-laden EDF, which is facing delays and budget over-runs on new nuclear plants in France and Britain, and corrosion problems in some of its ageing reactors. Promising to accelerate the development of solar and offshore wind power Macron also said he wanted to extend the lifespan of older nuclear plants in the world’s most nuclear-intensive country to more than 50 years from more than 40 years currently for certain reactors, provided it was safe.
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