France 2030: nuclear, hydrogen, health… Emmanuel Macron’s 30 billion plan – LCI

This Tuesday, October 12 at the Elysee Palace, standing on a platform and surrounded by ministers, entrepreneurs or students, Emmanuel Macron detailed for two hours a plan to “to rebuild a sovereignty of production” and “to become a great nation of innovation again” by 2030. To reindustrialize the country, a budget of 30 billion euros will be allocated to several sectors, now in competition with foreign states. 7 billion will be invested in health, recalled Emmanuel Macron, with reference to his “Health Innovation 2030” plan already presented in June. The budget paid to some of these sectors, such as cultural content or the conquest of space and the seabed, has not been quantified. Here are the details of these announcements, which should take shape in early 2022 under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Jean Castex.

Energy brought up to date by Emmanuel Macron, nuclear power will benefit from 1 billion euros in total. Concretely, this envelope will be used to “by 2030, bring about the emergence of small, innovative nuclear reactors with better waste management”. These reactors, under the name of Small modular reactors (SMR), “are much safer because safety is a key point in the nuclear debate”, assured the president. Technologies aimed at better recycling nuclear waste, a real headache today from an environmental point of view, will also be financed by this promised billion.

“We will have an investment objective of more than 500 million euros in breakthrough technologies in renewable energies”, guaranteed the Head of State, citing wind turbines on land and at sea, as well as photovoltaic panels. And for good reason: France has a European obligation to consume 23% of renewable energies in the final energy mix, which it does not fulfill for the moment, according to the estimates of the Climate-Energy Observatory (we are at 19 , 1% in 2020). Emmanuel Macron also indicated that he wanted to make France the leading country in green hydrogen within ten years, with “at least two Gigafactory of electrolysers ” on the territory. Without specifying how much it will cost.

As France and the EU are required to become carbon neutral by 2050, the 2030 plan must logically set green objectives. The president announced that 8 billion euros would be allocated to decarbonising industry, financing new electricity mixes and innovation in electricity production. “Our strategy is complemented by the digitization and robotization of our industry, which is a key point”, he stressed, seeing progress as a way to make the industrial sector less polluting.

Two ambitions have been declared in this sector, with a total budget of 4 billion euros. First, nearly 2 million hybrid or electric vehicles will be produced in France by 2030, in order to gradually replace the aging vehicle fleet. Then, Emmanuel Macron shared his wish to see the first low-carbon aircraft produced in France by this deadline, in an optimistic tone: “I think it is quite doable.”

In this plan for 2030, the Head of State wishes “invest in healthy, sustainable and traceable food”. Thus, 2 billion euros must be paid in pursuit of a “agricultural and agrifood revolution”. Citing the two EGALIM laws on food, the president plans to invest in digital technology, robotics and genetics to support the challenges of agricultural production.

“Europe only produces 10% of electrical components”, and in particular semiconductors, victims of a shortage today, regretted Emmanuel Macron. As France is lagging behind in the production of these technologies, an envelope of 6 billion euros will have to be used to “to double our electronic capacity by 2030” and “to secure” chip supply.