Two months before the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron unveils on Thursday in Belfort his nuclear recovery plan and, more generally, his energy strategy for France.
The main announcement of the Head of State is to be on the construction of a series of new second-generation EPR nuclear reactors. According to a source close to the executive, the order to EDF could go up to six EPR2 reactors with an option for eight additional reactors, or 14 in total.
France is currently building only one new nuclear reactor, the Flamanville EPR (Manche), whose construction started in 2007 is still not completed and for which EDF has announced new delays and additional costs.
Accompanied by several ministers, the president and quasi-candidate will make his announcements at the Arabelle turbine manufacturing site equipping French nuclear power plants, sold in 2015 to the American General Electric when he was Economy minister.
He was regularly criticised for his decision to sell Alstom’s energy arm to GE.
Since then, Emmanuel Macron has made a gradual shift, even assuming his pro-nuclear choice, he who in 2017 insisted above all on his commitment to reduce nuclear power to 50% of electricity production.
Under pressure from the executive, EDF has been negotiating for months to buy the US conglomerate’s nuclear activities, including the Arabelle turbines.
But nothing filters from a board of directors of the EDF group on Monday, except that a protocol of negotiations could finally be announced, rather than a more successful agreement, even if several ministers have already anticipated the “good news”.
On November 9, Emmanuel Macron announced that France would “for the first time in decades restart the construction of nuclear reactors” and “continue to develop renewable energies”.
The project aims to “guarantee France’s energy independence” and “achieve our goals, in particular carbon neutrality in 2050,” the Head of State had argued.
EDF has already submitted to the state a proposal to build six EPR2 reactors for about fifty billion euros.
– Wind turbine –
The group proposes to build them in pairs on three sites: first in Penly (Seine-Maritime), near Dieppe, then in Gravelines (Nord) and finally in Bugey (Ain) or Tricastin (Drôme).
“The State will contribute and play its role” in the financing, the Elysee promises.
“Several external audits have been carried out by the government to confirm the strength of EDF’s figures and these elements will be made public within days of the President’s speech,” the Presidency said.
In Belfort, Emmanuel Macron is also expected to talk about the small nuclear reactors (SMR) program.
Nuclear power is “environmentally friendly, it makes it possible to produce electricity without carbon, it contributes to our energy independence and it produces electricity that is very competitive,” summarizes the Elysée Palace.
But beyond that, it is a global energy strategy that the Head of State must present, anxious to show that he continues to attach importance to renewable energies, complementary to nuclear.
“Building a new nuclear reactor is not for 15 years, so we need renewable energy right away,” the Elysee said.
Emmanuel Macron could thus mention the development of offshore wind turbines, which are less contested than onshore wind turbines.
Another track, energy savings, with the objective of “reducing our consumption without losing quality of life or purchasing power”.
The framework speech that the Head of State is to deliver in Belfort therefore traces a long-term perspective, but must also allow him to already occupy one of the major topics of the campaign.
Nuclear power is one of the themes of the 2022 presidential campaign, with some candidates advocating a more or less rapid exit (environmentalists or insubordinate) while others (especially on the right and on the far right but also in the communist party) are in favor of this energy.
Yannick Jadot, EELV presidential candidate, denounces an “electionalism” of the president who, according to him, “just before the presidential election, is trying to correct the aberration of having sold Alstom to General Electric, under conditions absolutely unacceptable for France”.
In unison, the NGO Greenpeace lambasts an “electoral objective” of an “opportunistic candidate”.
pab-leb-jmi-jk/ao