Among the reasons given by respondents in favour of nuclear energy were the energy independence of France (53%, up from 46% in 2019) and the low cost of electricity (30%).

France targets 2.4 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2023 and between 5.2 GW and 6.2 GW by 2028.

In March 2020, the French government allowed EDF to postpone the deadline for commissioning the reactor to 2024.

As part of its National Energy and Climate Plan (2020), France set its 2030 target for renewables at 33% of the final energy consumption.

“The Framatome team continues to evolve our fuel solutions as part of our commitment to bringing advanced, economical technologies to the industry,” said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice president, Fuel Business Unit at Framatome.

The annual E-FUSION (Emirati French Industrial Supply Chain Initiative for Nuclear) event was launched by ENEC, EDF and GIFEN (French Nuclear Cluster) in 2019, aiming to develop new Franco-Emirati commercial relations in the nuclear sector.

Ensuring that these energy systems are efficient and reliable, integrating larger shares of renewables coupled with nuclear energy, which is a significant part of today’s electricity production in both our countries, will be crucial to accelerate energy transitions

Saudi Arabia is aiming to generate 50 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030, with the remainder provided by gas.

The development follows the Indian and French governments signing the Industrial Way Forward Agreement on 10 March 2018 to enable cooperation between the two countries, thereby improving the energy sector and economies through knowledge and technology sharing.

Nuclear output fell more than 2 GW week on week to the lowest average nuclear output since Week 40 in 2020.