France will pursue a shift away from fossil fuels and will support nuclear and renewable energy as the new government will look to lower household bills, the new French energy minister said on Monday.

Agnes Pannier-Runacher, who was appointed France’s energy, environment, and climate minister this weekend, on Saturday said that the challenges of the century are moving away from fossil fuels, adapting France to the effects of climate change, stopping the collapse of biodiversity, and reversing the trend.

The key to reducing pollution and energy bills is supporting the uptake of cleaner vehicles and facilitating home renovations, Pannier-Runacher said on Monday, as carried by Bloomberg.

Pannier-Runacher was the minister in charge of France’s energy transition from the middle of 2022 until last January.

The green push is set to continue despite the rising budget deficit that the new government now faces.

In recent months, France has focused on its nuclear fleet, which provides around 70% of its electricity and which – typically – allows one of Europe’s biggest economies to export electricity to its European neighbors and partners.

Early this year, France’s Ministry of Energy Transition introduced a bill on energy sovereignty, which highlighted the importance the country will attach to nuclear power generation in the future.

The bill included targets for the construction of at least six and up to 14 new reactors, as France will be heavily relying on nuclear to meet its net-zero and emission reduction goals. The bill, however, didn’t have any targets for expanding renewable energy capacity including wind and solar, while previous energy laws had such targets.

The Solar Impulse Foundation, which took part in the consultation process for the draft bill, in January called on the French government “to include a quantified target for the production of energy from renewable sources, and to include a quantitative target in terms of increased energy efficiency.”

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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