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A Canada-based renewable energy developer recently announced commercial operation of a solar power paired with energy storage project in Hawaii, along with providing updates on two agrivoltaic installations in France.
The post Innergex Brings Hawaii Solar Project Online, Supports France Agrivoltaic Installations appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The largest nuclear reactor in France is finally providing power to the country’s grid, more than a decade after it was expected to enter commercial operation. Flamanville 3, an EPR […]
The post Flamanville 3 Reactor Online in France After 12-Year Delay appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The French government is prepared to take full control of EDF, one of the world’s largest producers of electricity, as the energy group struggles with increasing debt due to problems with its current and future nuclear power fleet.
Élisabeth Borne, who took over as France’s prime minister in May, in her first state-of-the-nation speech to the country’s parliament on July 6, said a power crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means the government must take action to limit the impact of rising energy prices. Borne told legislators, “We must have full control over our electricity production and performance. We must ensure our sovereignty in the face of the consequences of war and the colossal challenges to come … that’s why I confirm to you the state’s intention to own 100% of EDF’s capital.”
EDF is facing construction delays and cost overruns on new nuclear power plant projects in France and the UK. It also is dealing with corrosion issues at some of its older nuclear facilities.…
The head of GE’s operations in France told a Paris newspaper that a French factory targeted for more than 1,000 job cuts will not close. GE last week said it wanted to make its operations in France more efficient and said changes would come at the Belfort plant in eastern France, which handles technology for GE Power’s hydro, gas, steam, and nuclear technology.
Bruno Le Maire, France’s economy minister, had said he would try to save jobs at the plant after GE’s announcement on May 28. Job cuts were expected to be negotiated with the plant’s labor unions. GE had said it could cut up to 1,044 jobs at Belfort, where it employs about 4,300 workers, including 1,900 in the gas power unit. GE had said 792 job cuts could come from that unit, with other positions eliminated in support divisions.
Hugh Bailey, general manager of GE in France, in an interview published June 2 in the Paris-based Le Journal du Dimanche, was quoted as saying, “I want to be clear, Belfort will not close.…
France will shut down 14 of its 58 nuclear reactors by 2035 as well its remaining four coal power plants by 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said November 27 in a lengthy speech that sought to clarify the country’s future energy direction.
According to the World Nuclear Association, France’s nuclear power share has steadily expanded since 1974, just after the first oil shock. However, France has pondered reducing nuclear’s share of its total generating mix from about 75% since 2012, when former President François Hollande ran on an election pledge to cut the nuclear share to 50% by 2025.
In 2014, the the lower house of France’s parliament passed the so-called “Energy Transition for Green Growth” bill, which set a nuclear cap at 63.2 GWe, which meant reducing nuclear’s share to 50% by 2025. In 2015, the Senate amended the bill to remove the 63.2-GW nuclear cap, but that same year, the National Assembly approved a new bill reinstating the cap.…