| Such a success story that their nuclear company, EDF, had to be nationalized and is so indebted that they can not finance new nuclear without state aid. >(Montel) French utility EDF is unable to self-finance the construction of new nuclear reactors due to its EUR 65bn debt and so needs state funding, CEO Luc Remont told a hearing of France’s lower house on Wednesday. https://www.montelnews.com/news/1511372/french-state-must-fu... Meanwhile Germany and the US is making billions by auctioning the right to build off-shore wind. > Germany’s first dynamic bidding process, covering four offshore wind zones with a combined capacity of 7 GW, has generated EUR 12.6 billion in proceeds, according to the Federal Network Agency. https://www.offshorewind.biz/2023/07/12/breaking-germany-rak... > U.S. Offshore Wind Power Auction Nets Record $4.37 Billion https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-offshore-wind-power-auction... I have a hard time seeing France as a success story to emulate today. Choosing nuclear was the right choose to gain energy independence in the 70s, today the equivalent choice are renewables. |
The wind farms are awesome, and I'm super happy that the current economic and geopolitical climate and the technological advancements are making them possible and financially attractive to build. But in the end success is measured in TWh delivered. And France has been delivering 300TWh+/y of clean electricity for 40 years straight. And the 7GW that's gonna deliver ~20TWh/year is cool, but we need a whole lot more of it before it can be deemed as much a success as France's nuclear endeavour has been.