NEW BUILD | POWERING PORTS
The power to change
Two new EPRs are planned to be constructed at EDF’s Gravelines site. A glance at plans for the region show why this is a priority site for the new plants.
EDF’S SITE AT GRAVELINES, on the coast of northern France, currently has six nuclear units in operation. Last year, EDF announced that the site would be among the first in a new programme of nuclear construction based around the EPR, with two units planned for the site. The Gravelines site is just 20 miles (36 km) from one
EDF’s Gravelines plant currently has six nuclear units in operation. Source: ANS
of France’s largest ports, Dunkirk, which makes claims to being a leading energy hub, thanks to “a unique combination of low-carbon electricity production, distribution and security capabilities, supporting the region’s energy transition and economic development”. Dunkirk Port celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026, with a plan for the port and the surrounding area that could see large areas transformed into clean energy assets. The plans will draw on the existing Gravelines reactors, which will see their lives extended, and the two new EPRs. Dunkirk has always been a busy port, not least
because it offers one of the shortest sea routes across to England – the sea between the two is only around
20 miles (36 km) wide at this point – making it a busy route for vehicle ferries and cargo, but it also has other ferry routes, to Ireland, and cruise ship users, as well as cargo vessels. It is the largest port in France for non- containerised cargo and it is described as a vital link for bulk cargo trade. In an introduction to its transformation project, the
Port of Dunkirk said it had to adapt its infrastructure and model to respond to “changes in maritime trade, industrial and energy transitions, and societal expectations”. The 2025–2029 strategic project “is driven by a need to diversify activities at and around the port, value-added logistics and industrial solutions, and rising sectors such as mobility, sustainable maritime transport and low-carbon energies”. That may include long-term changes in gas markets: the Dunkirk liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal transmitted a total volume exceeding 10Mt in 2025, surpassing its previous record set in 2022 (9.7Mt), but the long-term trajectory of gas use is downwards.
76 | April 2026 |
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