The desire of the predecessor toEmmanuel Macron to reduce the share of nuclear power to 50% in electricity production has indeed failed. Francois Hollande made it a campaign promise in 2012, then tried to keep it during his mandate, without ever succeeding.
Two mandates and a power plant closure later (Fessenheimin Haut-Rhin in 2020), the current President of the Republic has made a 180° turn: no longer a question of intentionally reducing this share of electricity produced by thethe central (it was 64.8% in 2023, according to RTE).
Three sites planned for new reactors
Better: the State now plans to build six new reactors, EPR 2a simplified version of thecurrent Flamanville EPR – which will therefore remain a unique model in France. A priori less expensive and less complex, these models will be divided into three pairs on already existing sites: first at Penly (Seine-Maritime) by 2040; then over the following decade to Gravelines (North) and Bugey (Ain).
But while they currently only exist on plans, financing difficulties are already appearing. In 2021, EDF’s first estimates put the cost of the program at 51.7 billion euros. Less than three years later, these have already been revised significantly upwards (+ 30%), to now reach 67.4 billion euros.
And it’s probably not over: “EDF will provide a new estimate of the cost of the first 3 pairs of EPR 2 at the end of the year, the group’s management tells us, (…) in view of the evolution the economic context, inflation or even the cost of raw materials. EDF will need some form of state aid to finance this program. »
Not enough, however, to dampen the ambitions of the President of the Republic who is already planning to launch a new construction program for eight other EPR 2. To do this, it will still be necessary to have resolved two thorny problems: that of burying waste, as well as the dismantling of the oldest power stations.
