This latest move by Hulot comes after he made a statement to reporters at the G7 Environmental Summit on June 12, that France plans to close some nuclear reactors of state-controlled utility, EDF to reduce nuclear’s share in the country’s power mix, a move that was met with skepticism by many energy experts.
However, today’s announcement does go along with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron’s stance on climate change, renewable energy, and statements made during his campaign where he said he was opposed to gas and shale gas exploration on the French mainland, according to France24 News.
Macron also said during his campaign he would like to see oil and gas exploration stopped altogether in the country’s overseas territories, however, Hulot, an environmentalist and former television star before he joined Macron’s cabinet last month, said such a move would lead to lawsuits by energy companies.
Macron’s victory was not expected to shake up the country’s oil and gas sector according to Ashurst Energy & Resources Partner Michel Lequien. “We await further details on the proposed policies concerning the oil and gas industry, however, we do not anticipate significant change,” Lequien told Rigzone after the election.
President Macron’s commitment to COP21 is undeniable and he is fully behind a movement away from fossil fuels as an energy source. The chairman of French energy firm Francaise de l’Energie, Julien Moulin, supported observations by Lequien in this area.
“I truly believe that President Macron will continue to focus on the energy transition and is fully aware of the challenges in developing a credible path to a lower carbon future,” Moulin said. Moulin also believes that Macron fully understands the importance of clean, natural gas in a sustainable energy mix.
“France narrowly avoided blackouts last winter by getting its coal-fired power plants to run at full capacity and importing more gas from Russia than anticipated. This is not sustainable and does not fit with the country’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint while growing its economy,” Moulin said.
French renewable energy goals and the country’s ongoing fight to mitigate global warming is very commendable. However, a note of caution is needed so that France doesn’t end up being energy-poor in the future, particularly with the planned decommissioning of nuclear power plants.
IEA Chief Economist Laszlo Varro, in discussing the closure of so many nuclear power plants by 2020 said the other day, “If we do not keep nuclear in the energy mix and do not accelerate wind and solar deployment, the loss of nuclear capacity will knock us back by 15 to 20 years. We do not have that much time to lose.”