France to lend EDF for new nuclear units, similar to Czech plan

France, like other European countries, is planning to build new nuclear units, with the question of their financing crucial to overall costs. The French government has announced that it will provide a loan for construction to EDF, which is now wholly state-owned. However, no official decision on construction has yet been made, with the final investment decision expected by the middle of next year.

France has long been Europe’s largest player in nuclear power generation, which has long covered most of the country’s electricity consumption. However, France’s nuclear fleet is ageing, while its replacement with new units remains a distant prospect. So far, the latest nuclear unit to enter operation in France has been the new EPR unit at the Flamanville plant. Its construction was delayed by around 12 years, however, and its budget was exceeded several times.

Although France had originally planned to gradually reduce nuclear power’s share of electricity generation to 50 %, this plan was abandoned in light of the energy crisis. Instead, construction of six new EPR units has been discussed in recent months. As with other new nuclear power plant projects, however, financing is the key issue.

Preliminary agreement on the table, details unknown

According to Reuters, the office of President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the government had reached a preliminary agreement with EDF on financing. A preferential state loan should cover at least half of the costs of building the new facilities, although specific details are not known. Talks between the government and EDF on financing should conclude within the next few weeks, after which the agreement will also need approval from the European Commission.

The French president announced plans to build six new units with a total capacity of up to 10 GW as early as 2022. At the time, construction was expected to begin in 2027, although it was far from certain how the project would be financed. Total costs are expected to run into tens of billions of euros.

According to Reuters, EDF did not comment on the outcome of the latest talks. However, the company said that the expected cost estimate should be known within a few months and that it would submit it to the government by year-end. The model under discussion nevertheless closely resembles the one planned to finance the new nuclear unit in the Czech Republic, whose financing should likewise be secured by a preferential state loan, at least for the duration of the unit’s construction.