L R AS Published on Monday 24 February 2020 - n° 310 - Categories:other France
Why not couple new RE installations with the closure of nuclear power plants?
The shutdown of Fessenheim's power station No. 1 prompted the president of Valorem to protest against the extension of the life of nuclear power stations from 40 years to 50 years. This extension of the service life, known as the "grand carénage" (large fairing),
costs €100 billion. It recommends linking the closure of power plants to the commissioning of renewable energy plants. Valorem estimates that France can close six power stations, i.e. 8 GW, by 2035 without risk of an electricity shortage. The installed wind (36 TWh) and solar (12 TWh) capacity would allow 8 nuclear reactors to be shut down after 40 years. The ambitions of RE installations would allow the additional shutdown of 8 reactors at 40 years, i.e. 16 reactors in total by 2035.
To cope with the variability of electricity consumption, this measure must be accompanied by a real effort to reduce thermal sensitivity by insulating buildings and preSeeing a gradually decarbonised production back-up thanks to the greening of gas, the development of hydrogen and the conversion of coal-fired power plants into biomass-fuelled back-up plants.
Tecsol of 23 February
