EDF confirms Cordemais coal plant will shut down permanently in 2027

French energy company EDF has confirmed reports that state the Cordemais coal plant will shut down for good in 2027. France is accelerating the adoption of new power generation methods while ensuring workers at traditional coal plants will be assisted in their career transitions. EDF is one of France’s largest and most influential energy companies and has committed to permanently closing the Cordemais coal plant in 2027. The global energy community has committed to reducing its reliance on the conventional coal sector.

EDF commits to “definitively” shut down its 1.2GW Cordemais coal plant by the end of the first quarter of 2027

European nations are committed to reforming their energy sector to reduce reliance on the traditional coal sector in favor of the more environmentally friendly renewable energy sector. This reformative stance has been exemplified by the planned closure of the Cordemias coal plant.

EDF is detailing the need to close the Cordemias coal plant indefinitely by 2027 and replace it with a prefabrication facility for nuclear piping at the site that should be operational by the end of 2028, if everything goes according to plan.

Initially, EDF planned to convert the plant to biomass-fired generation; however, those plans were halted, citing “technical-economic” conditions as the major hurdle. According to EDF, extending the 40-year-old plant’s lifetime would be expensive and would not ensure reliable energy production during peak hours, when it is needed the most.

There are only two coal-fired plants left in France. While the Cordemais coal plant produced a total of 244GWh last year, the numbers do not supersede the need to reform the energy sector in France and further afield in Europe.

French utility EDF is promoting the reform efforts that aim to introduce nuclear power to the French grid

While the world is searching furiously for the best and most viable reform methods that enable the energy sector to transition from relying on the old school coal plants for energy towards the nearly unlimited power that nuclear power presents.

EDF has attributed the closure of the Cordemias coal plant to two main factors, which are:

• The implementation of the 2019 Energy-Climate Law – The law calls for a coal phase-out to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
• The discontinuation of the Ecocombust project. – The discontinuation was announced as far back as September 2024.

Through its subsidiary Framatome, EDF has stated that it plans to establish a facility dedicated to the manufacture of piping for the secondary circuit of future EPR2 reactors. The plan was approved following consultation with EDF’s Central Social and Economic Committee, after which it was submitted to the relevant authorities in 2025. The decision by EDF is in sharp contrast to China, which has commissioned 21 GW of coal plants in 2025.

Construction of the new plant is scheduled to begin in 2026 and could ultimately employ up to 200 workers, contributing to scaling up the French nuclear industry under the EPR2 program. Industrial commissioning of the Cordemias nuclear site is expected by the end of 2028.

France is leading the European charge to phase out coal reliance in favor of renewable energy

The Cordemais site currently employs around 350 staff members, and those employees will need assistance in their career transitions, which EDF has committed to. France is leading the charge in Europe to phase out coal mines under EU divestment rules, which have already produced results in Germany. The world needs to embrace the renewable energy sector, while wind and solar power are promising forms of energy generation, neither possesses the large-scale production that nuclear power has in abundance. The world can rest easy in the knowledge that France is accelerating the adoption of nuclear power by reforming the Cordemias coal plant.