France’s largest nuclear power plant is finally supplying power to the country’s grid, more than a decade after it was expected to go commercial. Flamanville 3, the EPR reactor located in Normandy, has suffered a series of technical problems over the past few years. The 1,600-MW unit, now the most powerful generating unit in France, began supplying electricity in Dec. 21. It was originally expected to be online 12 years ago. Luc Remont, CEO of Électricité de France (EDF), a state-owned company based in Paris, confirmed in a statement the launch of Flamanville 3. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on social media that “it was a very good moment.” in the country,” noting the unit is “one of the most powerful nuclear power plants in the world.” Macron added, “Re-industrializing to produce low-carbon energy is the style of French ecology.”
The Flamanville 3 reactor in Normandy, France, entered commercial operation on Dec. 21, 2024. This unit was expected to start operating 12 years ago. Source: EDF The first EPR came online in 2018 when Unit 1 at the Taishan site in China entered commercial operation. Two other EPRs are currently in operation: Taishan 2 in China, and Olkiluoto in Finland. The Olkiluoto unit came online last year, 14 years after it was meant to be operational.
A ‘historical’ event for France
Remont said the start-up of Flamanville 3 is “historic,” noting, “The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2,” referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France. France gets about 62% of its electricity from nuclear power, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA). The group said the country has about 60 reactors in operation, with about 64 GW of production capacity. The cost of Flamanville 3 is estimated at 13.2 billion euros ($13.76 billion), almost four times its initial estimated cost of 3.3 billion euros. The reactor was started on September 3 of this year, but went into what was called an “automatic shutdown” the next day. That resulted in more testing on site, and a gradual increase in Saturday grid connections. Macron has pledged to add nuclear power to France’s car fleet. His government in 2022 ordered six EPR2 reactors, a simplified version of the EPR design. EDF and Framatome are developing EPR2. Macron said he is considering options for eight more EPR2 units in addition to the six he has already ordered. The first six EPR2 reactors are set to be installed in pairs at Penly, Gravelines, and Bugey power stations. –Darrell Proctor is the senior editor of POWER.
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