France as part of its upcoming multi-year energy plan (PPE) is dramatically watering down earlier pledges to phase down nuclear power to 50% (from now above 70%), with the target reached at the earliest in 2035, the AFP newswire said.
The country under its previous government had planned to reach the 50% nuclear share already in 2025.
Paris reportedly is slated to present three scenarios next week for reducing nuclear in its power mix.
Delaying the nuclear phase down by at least a decade bodes ill for the expansion of renewables in France.
Renewable and environmental groups had already lamented the resigning in August of environmentalist Nicolas Hulot from President Emmanuel Macron’s government, who gave up among other things amid an inability to convince the country to phase-out nuclear power, which he called a “useless craziness.”
His replacement Francois de Rugy told French broadcasters that 2035 is “the deadline” the government is “working with,” but depending on which scenario for a nuclear phase-down the administration will follow, it could be even later.
In a first scenario, six nuclear plants would be closed by 2028, with another six following by 2035, the newswire said.
In a second scenario, no closure would happen by 2028, while 12 atomic power stations would go offline by 2035. That scenario is favoured by French state-owned nuclear giant EDF, according to information by the 20 minutes online news service.
In a third scenario, no plant would be closed by 2028, nine by 2035, and four new ones would actually be built by 2040.
