Electricite de France (EDF) said its board has approved plans to shut down the Fessenheim nuclear power plant, which is France's oldest nuclear plant.
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The board also approved a plan for state compensation for the damage suffered by the company from the shutdown, which will be conditional on the launch of a new-generation plant.
The state-run EDF's board voted to start the process of closing the plant. The move to close the plant, which is near the German border, was due to much pressure from Germany and environmental activists, while unions oppose the move, reports said.
The plant in northeastern France, which was commissioned in 1978, is scheduled to stop production this year. The outgoing President Francois Hollande pushed the move as the country aims to reduce its unusually high reliance on nuclear power. The German government also asked France to shut down Fessenheim.
Meanwhile, some presidential candidates in the country, including conservative frontrunner Francois Fillon, reportedly are against the plant closure.
In a statement, EDF said the application of the law on energy transition of August 17, 2015 sets a ceiling of 63.2 GW for installed nuclear electricity generation capacity in France. This means that the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 EPR is conditional upon the shutdown, on the same date, of an equivalent generation capacity.
Under the agreed terms of the protocol, the compensation include a fixed initial portion covering the anticipated costs associated with the closure, currently estimated at about 490 million euros, 20% of which would be paid in 2019 and 80% in 2021.
The compensation also include a further, variable portion giving rise, where applicable, to subsequent payments reflecting EDF's shortfall up to 2041.
Earlier, EDF and the French government reportedly agreed on a 400 million euros compensation package for the proposed closure of Fessenheim.
EDF noted that the closure of the Fessenheim plant requires a decree revoking the licence to operate the power plant, to be issued at the request of the company and which, in application of the law, will take effect at the same time as the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 EPR, scheduled for late 2018. ■
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