11 Feb (NucNet): France’s official court of auditors, the Cour des Comptes, said in its annual report yesterday that €100bn ($112bn) of investments need to be made until 2030 to maintain state-controlled utility EDF’s fleet of 58 commercial reactors, although it said the estimate includes “many uncertainties”.
EDF said in 2015 it would need to invest €55bn to 2025 to upgrade its nuclear fleet to the French regulator’s latest safety standards.
However, the court said in the report that its own figures and those of EDF are in line with each other because the timeframe of the €100bn figure is longer, to 2030.
The figure also includes all future maintenance costs, while EDF’s estimate is limited to investments needed to modernise the fleet.
The court also said France’s energy transition law could force EDF to close up to a third of its reactors by 2025.
The court estimates that the planned reduction of the share of nuclear in French energy production to 50 percent by 2025 from more than 75 percent now could lead to the closure of 17 to 20 reactors if power consumption and exports remain at current levels.
The report is online: http://bit.ly/1mup9Sn
