EDF May Have to Shut Up to 17 Reactors, Ecology Minister Says
- Government plans to cut share of atomic power to 50% by 2025
- Nuclear accounted for 72% of French electricity output in 2016
An EDF logo sits on a sign outside a hydroelectric power plant operated by Electricite de France SA (EDF), in Bort-les-Orgues, France, on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. President Francois Hollande has vowed to lower dependence on nuclear power to 50 percent of all electricity produced by around 2025.
Photographer: Balint Porneczi/BloombergElectricite de France SA, the state-controlled operator of 58 nuclear reactors in France, may have to shut as many as 17 to fulfill government plans to reduce the share of atomic power in the country’s electricity output to 50 percent by 2025, Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said.
The exact number of shutdowns required isn’t clear because “we haven’t developed everything in our climate plan,” Hulot said Monday on RTL radio. Given the 50 percent target, “everyone can understand that we’ll close a number of reactors to achieve that goal, and not just one.”