French utility EDF plans to run its 58-reactor fleet in France until they complete 50 years of operation, before starting a gradual shut down beginning in 2029, said EDF’s head of Nuclear Generation, Philippe Sasseigne.

“We have as our objective to keep our other reactors running until the age of 50, which will take us to the first shut-down from 2029. From 2029 to 2035, a number of reactors will be halted at the 50-year mark,” he said.

The previous government of Francois Holland approved an energy transition law in 2015 setting a target to reduce the share of nuclear power in the energy mix to 50% by 2025, from the current 75%. The timescale, however, has been postponed by President Emmanuel Macron, Kallanish Energy notes.

Energy and Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot is holding a public debate on energy policy, with a view to reduce France’s reliance on nuclear generation. The government is talking to the industry, experts and renewable energy activists before it publishes the first draft of its multi-annual energy plan at the end of June.

Sasseigne told reporters “if we have to shutdown in 2024-2025, we have to ask ourselves whether it is necessary to carry out these costly upgrades,” referring to upgrades the company started in some reactors.

EDF and the French government agreed on the closure of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, the country’s oldest, when the new Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor comes online. No other closure has been scheduled so far.