It’s bad news for the new reactor under construction at Flamanville, France. Costs have risen dramatically and the delays are close to unacceptable. Originally it was scheduled to be completed this year for a cost of €3.3 billion, but the cost of the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) doubled in 2011 to €6 billion and completion was delayed until 2016. The Constructors Areva and Electricité de France (EDF) have announced that the cost has again risen, now to €8.5 billion for the 1,650-MW reactor. This echoes problems in delay and cost increases in Finland. Originally planned for operation in 2009, the Finnish reactor’s start date has been extended to 2015, six years behind schedule.
EDF’s announcement must bring a smile to the faces of wind power protagonists and make reactor proposals in Ontario, Canada, the US and in Great Britain begin to look suspect. Indeed the French renewables industry was quick to denounce the increases and delays and say that renewables are cheaper.
A few months ago Reuters and Bloomberg reported various British estimates of the tariffs needed to make EDF’s proposed reactors profitable at these sort of installed costs. Their sources estimated that the tariffs required varied from a low of €0.12 to as much as €0.19 per kWh. Wind power generated electricity in France is paid only €0.08 per kWh and is therefore clearly competitive with “new” nuclear.
Of course, the Government of Monsieur Francoise Hollande came to power on a modest reduction of French reliance on nuclear from 75% to 50% by 2050. However, these latest figures indicate that ab acceleration of the transition to renewables might be more appropriate in the circumstances.
As things stand at the moment, France is unlikely to reach its 2020 renewable targets. One of the reasons for this is the awful French red tape. It currently takes eight years for a wind project to navigate through the seemingly labyrinthine Gallic bureaucracy. In Germany, it takes two years.
Obviously, the issue with wind power is its intermittency. But liquid metal batteries continue to get closer to reality and could be the godsend for stored wind energy. Would that be the death knell for expensive and dangerous nuclear power? As Bob Dylan said, the answer, my friend is blowing in the wind!
