A reprieve for the Cordemais power station (Loire-Atlantique). Equipment operating on coal will continue to operate until 2024 or even 2026, at a low speed compatible with the law on the closure of the four French coal-fired power plants in 2022, the government announced on Monday.
"We need it at 10% of its current functioning, between 2022 and 2024 or, potentially, until 2026 maximum but not beyond," said Secretary of State for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition Emmanuelle Wargon, at Haven.
The Cordemais plant will therefore run between 200 and 500 hours per year from 2022 against 4,500 hours today, she said. Its operation beyond 2024 "is conditioned on security of supply, itself conditioned on the commissioning of the EPR and / or the rest of security of supply: the commissioning of the power plant ( Breton gas) of Landivisiau in particular and the timetable for the revision of the various EDF sites, "explained the Secretary of State expected Friday in Cordemais.
Securing French supply
In November, RTE advocated this extension of low-speed activity in Cordemais, stressing that it was compatible with the law on the closure of the four coal-fired power plants. With the shutdown of coal-fired power plants, the security of electricity supply in France must be "vigilant" in 2022-2023, justified the EDF subsidiary which manages the high-voltage network.
In Cordemais, "we are currently exploring a project to initiate the creation of a wood pellets sector, that is to say with high energy value"; initially, it would supply the power station and find outlets elsewhere after it closed. However, this project poses "air pollution questions" according to the minister. This is why it is only envisaged at Cordemais, which is "obliged to continue to tour", and not at Le Havre where the same questions of security of supply do not arise.
"4 million cars per year"
“Four coal-fired power plants is 4 million cars per year. This is very significant in terms of greenhouse gases, ”underlined Emmanuelle Wargon. In addition to Le Havre and Cordemais, Saint-Avold (Moselle) must close "in the second quarter of 2022", according to Emmanuelle Wargon who is due to go there on Thursday, and Gardanne (Bouches du Rhône) in 2022.
The decommissioning of the coal-fired power stations will take "a certain number of years," said Cédric Lewandowski, director of the EDF nuclear and thermal fleet. Asked about its cost, he replied: "house secret".
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