France is to use profits from nuclear power plants along with a new carbon tax to help fund growth in renewable power and energy efficiency, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayraut said Saturday.
In a speech in Paris marking the end of France's "energy transition" conference, the PM said the carbon tax on fossil fuel products, announced by President Francois Hollande on Friday, would net government Eur4 billion ($5.4 billion) in 2016.
Ayraut did not say by how much the government would tax the profits of France's 58 nuclear reactors, which are operated by state-controlled EDF.
"For the remainder of the lifespan of the plants, assuring maximum safety, our nuclear park will be made to contribute, without impacting supply," Ayraut told the conference.
French nuclear plants currently provide around three-quarters of the nation's power, and President Hollande reiterated Friday his government's pledge to reduce this share to 50% by 2025 and replace this mainly with renewable capacity and energy efficiency measures.
France is to reduce fossil fuel consumption by 30% by 2030, in a bid to reduce final energy consumption by 50% by 2050, Hollande said.
Hollande warned that sufficient renewables expansion needs to take place before the government can realize its nuclear phase-out goal and these measures, along with support for energy efficiency measures, will require significant funding.
A new "progressive" carbon tax -- to be included in the national budget from 2014 -- would raise Eur2.5 billion in 2015 and Eur4 billion in 2016, Prime Minister Ayraut said Saturday.
No figure was given for 2014, but Ayraut said there would be zero impact from the carbon tax on household fuel and transport bills in that year.
Ayraut confirmed the carbon tax would cover gasoline, diesel, coal, gas, and other oil products such as heating oil, which many French homes still use.
Industrial companies which are part of the EU's carbon Emissions Trading Scheme, as well as the transport and fishing sectors, would be excluded from the carbon tax, he said.
The prime minister said the nuclear and carbon tax measures would together increase the investments in green energy by Eur1 billion/year from 2016.
This is in on top of the government's current spending of Eur4 billion/year on renewable energy and Eur1 billion on household energy renovations, he said.
Facing the increasing costs of an expanding renewable energy sector, the government is to conduct a review of all feed-in tariffs for renewable energy which cover sectors such as solar, wind and biomass power, Hollande said Friday.
"Every euro spent by the consumer... on renewable energy, must be as cost-effective as possible," the president said.
Several of Europe's largest utilities recently warned European governments that renewable energy subsidies are distorting energy markets, driving up consumer prices while making uncompetitive other existing fuel types, such as gas.
