The french wholesale electricity market at the core of energy challenges

At a time when our fellow citizens are experiencing from a sharp rise in energy prices and our country is wondering about the future of its energy mix, the electricity "market" is at the core of debates, even polemics. In the 1970s and 1980s, France invested massively in nuclear power to protect itself from the erratic fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels; how can it be that we are once again so dependent on the price of fossil fuels, even if it is now more gas than oil, at a time when the decarbonisation of energy is more than ever on the agenda?
It is essential to understand this paradox if the major investments in electricity generation that will be needed in the coming years are to be effective from the point of view of the bills paid by the french customers.
André Merlin, a major player in the evolution of the french and european electricity sector, was kind enough to help us in this understanding of history and to sketch out paths for the future.