French Nuclear Power Expands Solar Use

EDF has submitted plans for the construction of six new reactors in the next 15 years. Faced with the huge pressure of France's domestic energy transition and the bleak situation of power management, new reactor construction and existing equipment upgrades in the French nuclear power sector may lack sufficient financial support, and the adjustment of the nuclear power energy structure will experience a "pain period".

EDF has submitted a document to the board of directors detailing plans to build six new reactors over the next 15 years. Although the French government has not yet decided whether to build a new European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) third-generation nuclear power plant reactor, the French power group is actively promoting the matter, which is expected to cost at least 46 billion euros. It is predicted that the plan will face huge obstacles when the government actively promotes the energy transition, and the adjustment of the French nuclear power energy structure will be "a long way to go."

At present, the French government is still studying the feasibility of the nuclear energy program. The French National Assembly detailed the future trajectory of French energy in the "Energy and Climate Act" passed in September this year, hoping to reduce the share of nuclear energy in electricity production from the current 75% to 50% by 2035, and Finally, the goal of balancing with renewable energy is achieved. To this end, the French government has implemented a long-term plan for energy development, which aims to guide France's energy transition in the next 10 years, plans to close 14 nuclear reactors by 2035, and significantly expand the use of solar and wind energy. Facing the huge challenges brought by the current changes in the energy landscape and the constraints of policy planning, the French power sector has stepped up research on supporting transformation plans and hopes that the government will give them support. Although there is no explicit mention in the Energy and Climate Act of plans to build a new reactor, French President Macron called on the French nuclear industry system to propose a plan in mid-2021 that would allow business executives to decide whether new reactors are needed, It also reserves policy space for nuclear power development.

According to French media reports, in early September of this year, the French government sent a letter to Jean Bernard Levy, CEO of EDF, asking them to study in detail the deployment of six EPR reactors in the next 15 years. But the current situation is not optimistic about the French nuclear power sector. For example, the Flemishville EPR unit previously planned to be built in Normandy was postponed again to 2023, a total of nearly 10 years postponed, and the cost has quadrupled. For another example, in 2015, the French company Areva Nuclear Energy, which was responsible for the construction of the reactor, showed that in a region similar to the Flamanville Unit 3 reactor pressure vessel chemical and mechanical performance tests, the carbon content was higher than expected. High, once caused domestic people's concerns about nuclear power safety. At present, EDF is in financial distress, with debts of more than 33 billion euros, and 20 billion euros of funds are needed to extend the life of existing operating reactors. At the same time, due to fierce competition, EDF has lost a large number of customers in the past two years.

EDF emphasized the importance of the country's support for the nuclear power transition in the documents submitted and proposed three points of hope. First, establish electricity price regulations to enable power companies to sell electricity at reasonable prices. Secondly, a pre-funding stage is set up before the project construction, so that the government can directly or indirectly participate in project financing. Finally, investors should be fully protected, and according to the many risks faced by public and private investments, it is recommended that the state provide guarantees directly. The report also proposed that the government can guarantee the company's group reorganization plan, called the Hercules Plan, to ensure that sufficient funds are still available to support nuclear power projects after potential business separation. It is understood that the plan hopes to separate the two areas of operation and production, one part is "blue EDF", including nuclear power, hydropower and electricity transportation; the other is "green EDF", including power network management, renewable energy companies, Energy service companies and overseas companies. "Blue EDF" will be 100% held by the state, all business of "Green EDF" will be readjusted, and 35% will be listed on the stock market. The reorganization plan once triggered a large-scale strike demonstration. Opponents believe that this model of privatizing the profitable part and reorganizing the loss-making part will damage the integrity of EDF during the energy transition.

Some French economists have pointed out that the French nuclear power sector will face huge challenges in the current domestic energy transition process. For the French nuclear industry, it is difficult to reduce the proportion of nuclear power supply in the entire country while maintaining the existing nuclear power installed capacity, especially considering the service life of the French nuclear power project and the design life of the reactor. There is tremendous pressure on update maintenance. At the same time, in the face of the huge pressure of domestic energy transition and the bleak situation of power management, new reactor construction and existing equipment upgrades in the French nuclear power sector may lack sufficient financial support, and the adjustment of the nuclear power energy structure will experience a "pain period".