France’s nuclear reactor at Flamanville in Normandy will finally come into operation on Friday after a 12-year delay, operator EDF said on Wednesday.
The energy manager said that the connection to the network of the Flamanville 3 EPR reactor “is planned for December 20, 2024”, but added that the operation “will be characterized by different energy levels until the summer of 2025” in a months-long test phase. .
“After this test phase, the reactor is intended to operate at 100 percent power until a first planned shutdown for maintenance and refueling, called Complete Visit 1 (VC1),” EDF said.
The start-up of the new generation plant is twelve years behind schedule after a plethora of technical setbacks that have increased the cost of the project to an estimated 13.2 billion euros – four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion.
To mark the launch, EDF will hold a press conference at its headquarters in Paris on Friday.
The start-up began on September 3, but had to be paused the next day due to an “automatic shutdown” before resuming a few days later.
The initial start-up marked the beginning of a gradual increase in power to the level of 25 percent of capacity, allowing the reactor to be connected to the electricity grid.
The initial intention was that the grid connection would be ready before the end of the summer.
The EPR, a new generation pressurized water reactor, is the fourth of its kind in the world.
It is also the 57th reactor in the French nuclear fleet, and the most powerful in the country with 1,600 MW. Ultimately, it should provide more than two million households with electricity.
French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to boost nuclear power to strengthen France’s energy sustainability, ordering six EPR2 reactors and eight additional optional reactors from EDF in a policy commitment costing tens of billions of euros.
The new nuclear policy has helped EDF overcome a crisis that required checks or repairs on several reactors due to a stress corrosion cracking problem, causing energy production to plummet.
Nuclear energy accounts for about three-fifths of France’s energy production and the country has one of the largest nuclear energy programs in the world.
That is in stark contrast to neighboring EU power Germany, which abandoned nuclear power last year by closing its last three reactors.
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