Fessenheim (dpa/lsw) – The Franco-German company for an industrial park at the decommissioned Alsatian nuclear power plant in Fessenheim is being dissolved prematurely just one and a half years after it was founded. The shareholders of the Novarhéna company approved a corresponding proposal by the Board of Directors on Friday, as confirmed by the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district office of the German Press Agency in Freiburg. The main reason is to avoid further expenses.
In April last year, 17 German and French partners got together to boost economic development in the region after the Alsatian nuclear power plant was closed. The Fessenheim power plant was shut down in the summer of 2020 after 42 years of operation. There was a lot of criticism of the old system, especially from Germany.
Several partners reported that the available area was only 55 hectares due to environmental protection regulations. As it was also reliably said, almost half of the original capital of one million euros has been used up. The remaining capital should go back to the shareholders.
According to the district office, German shareholders hold a total of 14.5 percent of the company, which is organized under French law. The district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald brought 20,000 euros to Novarhéna.
The joint development of a project for the subsequent use of the area around the Fessenheim nuclear power plant has high political priority in both countries. The project is part of a list agreed by Berlin and Paris to implement the Aachen Treaty for Franco-German cooperation. The new contract was signed in January 2019 by French President Emmanuel Marcon and then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
A feasibility study with possible projects was developed by the EUCOR university association. The examination of this study has not yet been completed in Baden-Württemberg, as the Stuttgart State Ministry had already reported before Novarhéna ended. The state is still willing to get involved in the future process for Fessenheim. “From the country’s point of view, it would be important for the French side to take the lead here, since the free areas would be on French soil,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann’s (Greens) agency on request.
