Given the colossal sums to mobilize to finance the construction of new nuclear reactors, the government could allocate part of the hundreds of billions of euros in savings deposited by the French in their Livret A towards these sites, according to the newspaper Les Echos.
“The Livret A is one of the few resources that allows very long-term financing to be deployed, it corresponds quite well to the nuclear profile,” observes a source from the public authorities in Thursday’s edition of the economic newspaper.
Contacted on Wednesday night by AFP, the Ministry of Energy Transition affirms that “the financing options for the new nuclear energy are being studied, without any guidance having been arbitrated at this stage.”
“Several options are being studied,” confirms the Ministry of Economy.
Some 55 million French people have a Livret A for a total savings of more than 375 billion euros by the end of 2022, according to figures from the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC).
The six new nuclear reactors would cost 51.7 billion euros
As part of the roadmap presented by President Emmanuel Macron a year ago, France aims to build six new-generation EPR2 reactors, with an option for eight more.
According to EDF, the construction cost of the six new EPR2 is estimated at 51,700 million euros (excluding financing costs), plus 4,600 million in case of difficulty of execution.
Managed jointly by the Caisse des dépôts and the banking networks, the Livret A is mainly used to finance social housing.
“I am convinced that popular savings, Livret A, the sustainable and solidarity development book, the popular savings book that, in total, today reaches 500,000 million euros, can finance the transformation of our energy production apparatus. ”CDC chief Eric Lombard said recently. he told Parliament.
Contacted on Wednesday night by AFP, the Caisse des dépôts indicated that “the elections on the economic model and the supporting structure are scheduled for 2023 and hand in hand with the public authorities.”
Source: BFM TV
