National party leader Marine Le Pen delivers a speech in reaction to the outcomes of the second round of French regional and departmental elections, held at Nanterre, near Paris, France June 27, 2021. REUTERS Sarah Meyssonnier File - Photo: Sarah Meyssonnier
PaRIS, Oct 14 - Reuters - France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said that she would repeal all subsidies for renewable energy if elected next year and would destroy the wind turbines.
Eric Zemmour, who had run against Le Pen in April, made it to the second round of the 2017 presidential election and is expected to do so again, although recent polls have shown that right-wing talk show star Le Pen could be a good candidate for her if he decides to run. Wind energy is intermittent, these energy are not renewable, they are renewable. If I am elected, I will put a stop to all construction of new wind parks and I will launch a big project to dismantle them, she said on RTL radio.
She added that she would scrap subsidies for wind and solar, which add-up to six or seven billion euros per year and put a heavy burden on consumers' power bills.
Emmanuel Macron also said that she would provide strong support to France's nuclear industry by allowing the construction of several new reactors, fund a major upgrade of its existing fleet and will back the construction of small modular reactors as proposed by President Le Pen.
In a 2030 road to the French economy presented this week, Macron proposed billions of euros of support for electric vehicles, the nuclear industry and clean hydrogen - produced with nuclear - but made little reference to renewable energy. This country produces about 75% of its energy in nuclear power plants, which means that its electricity output has among the lowest carbon emissions per capita of any developed country. However, it also lags far behind Germany and other European nations in wind and solar investment.
There is an active anti-wind movement, which is supported by the far right and center left; and notably by Xavier Bertrand, the leading conservative candidate in the presidential vote.