With efforts to achieve a carbon-neutral energy mix, the French president announced that 14 out of 58 nuclear power plants would be decommissioned by 2035.

Emmanuel Macron made this announcement on Tuesday during his delivery of the country’s much anticipated multi-year energy roadmap.

Moving entirely away from nuclear power generation is not the message that was portrayed – Macron noted that the country is simply reducing its current 75 percent dependency on the power technology to 50 percent.

“I was not elected on a promise to exit nuclear power but to reduce the share of nuclear in our energy mix to 50%,” he said.

Of the 14 state-owned utility EDF’s nuclear reactors, four to six would close before 2030, two in 2027-28 and possibly two in 2025-26 should national power supply remain stable.

CNBC reported that Macron stressed that the closure schedule would depend on the evolution of France’s energy mix, which includes increased renewables, as well as the expansion of interconnection capacity with neighbouring countries.

“It is a pragmatic approach … which takes into account security of supply,” he said.

To protect its energy independent status, Macron underlined that no reactors would be decommissioned to the point that France would have to become an energy importer.

Additionally, Macron said that the country’s remaining four coal-fired power stations would close its doors by 2022.

With renewable power a top priority, the president noted that wind power output would triple by 2030.

(ESI Africa and Power Engineering are both owned by Clarion Energy. Run with Permission).