EDF expects to commission first EPR2 reactor at Penly as early as 2035: executive

French power company EDF expects first operations at its initial EPR2 reactor at the Penly nuclear power plant in France as early as 2035, a company executive told a Brussels industry conference Oct. 13.

Antoine Menager, the public debates director at EDF, was speaking during a webcast of the "Future of Nuclear Investment in Europe" conference organized by the French Entretiens Europeens pro-nuclear power non-governmental organization. He said that EDF was going to build two new 1,650-MW EPR2 units at the existing 2,764-MW Penly nuclear plant, with the first unit currently scheduled to start operations between 2035 and 2037.

However, "we may have some acceleration in the schedule," Menager told the conference.

He said that EDF needed to first "discuss" its new nuclear construction program "with the public before triggering regulatory notification."

For this purpose, the Commission Nationale du Debat Publique, France's independent public body charged with organizing public debates about major national projects affecting the environment, will lead a 10-step public consultation process, to which EDF will be a "contributor."

Under current plans, outlined by French President Emmanuel Macron in a speech Feb. 10, France plans to build up to 14 new nuclear units by 2050, with an initial three pairs of EPR2s representing the start of the construction program.

Under French law, the CNDP "organizes the debate, it makes the decisions on this. EDF wants to keep an open mind going into the debate," according to Menager.

He also told the Brussels event that EDF are "going to place new reactors on existing sites as these populations [around existing nuclear units] trust us."

Nuclear energy currently provides around 70% of the French power mix and the country has a legally binding target under European law of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.