France’s electricity needs will increase by “40% by 2050”. It is for this reason that Paris must go “twice as fast” on the commissioning of renewable energy projects and at the same time accelerate on nuclear power, said Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.
“We are going to massively increase our electricity needs” and France will need to speed up its renewable energy projects, the president said during the inauguration of France’s first offshore wind farm, off Saint- Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique). He confirmed the objective of installing “fifty wind farms at sea”, as well as continuing wind power on land, in particular thanks to a reduction in the time for examining files which must remain “compatible” with the preservation of biodiversity and consideration of contentious appeal procedures.
“The diversification of the model”
The procedures will also have to speed up on nuclear power, said the president, who announced last February the order for six new generation reactors, called EPRs. “I announced the first tranche in 2035 for nuclear. What I want is for us to go much faster,” he said. An audit published in February mentioned the 2037 horizon for the first commissioning.
“We can go much faster if we simplify things, so we will be in the same logic on nuclear,” he said. “All ENR does not work, all nuclear does not work”, justified Emmanuel Macron. “And what we are going through today with the war, what some neighbors like the Germans are going through even more, is that the key in terms of energy is the diversification of the model”.
Wind turbines on the edges of highways and railways
He also promised better “value sharing” for renewable projects with communities and local residents, which will primarily concern offshore wind turbines, which are often disputed.
“In nuclear power, there is a real return for the municipalities, which has helped with acceptability, we must do the same for renewable energy projects,” said Emmanuel Macron. Among the avenues for solar development, the Head of State mentioned “the release of land” to install more panels on wasteland, citing the edges of highways and railways, but also some agricultural land with the agrovoltaism.