5 Sep (NucNet): France will announce target dates for adjustments to the national energy mix in late October, the newly appointed environment minister said today.
Francois de Rugy assumed the ministerial role on Tuesday after the departure of Nicolas Hulot, who quit in part over what he saw as the government’s slow progress in moving away from its dependence on nuclear power.
Mr De Rugy gave no signal of what changes to the mix he would want to see, saying only that the end of next month was the deadline for unveiling a multi-year energy production programme. A first draft of that programme was originally expected during the summer, with a fuller version to be completed by year-end.
“There will be a multi-year programme for energy and we will be in a position to present that at the end of October,” he told France Inter radio. “The issue is obviously not a simple one.”
France derives about 75% – the highest percentage in the world – of its electricity from nuclear energy, with 58 commercial reactors operated by state-controlled EDF.
In 2015, the government of former president François Hollande established an energy transition law which set a target of reducing the nuclear share to 50% by 2025, a policy supported during his election campaign by president Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Hulot said in November 2017 this would not be realistic and suggested the deadline to be pushed back to 2035.
