Environmental activists will cringe at the news.

While Emmanuel Macron had promised to close the last coal-fired power stations by 2022, easily mobilized to produce electricity when needed, but also very emitting CO2 harmful to the climate, a decree published in the Official Journal will relax their usage limits temporarily.

The measure "will be strictly limited to the months of January and February 2022" and "does not change the timetable for the closure of coal-fired power plants", assured the Ministry of Ecological Transition in early January.

It comes as the country's electricity supply is particularly strained this winter due to the low availability of the nuclear fleet, which provides around 70% of the electricity in France.

The 2019 energy-climate law had set an annual threshold of 0.7 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per megawatt of installed electrical power, activating the gradual cessation of production from coal, already very marginal.

A threshold of 0.7 kilotonnes in 2023

This ceiling for greenhouse gas emissions “corresponds to around 700 hours of annual operation for a thermal power station using coal”, explained the government during the consultation on its draft decree.

According to the text published on Sunday, the ceiling is raised to 1 kilotonne until the end of February to cover the winter consumption peak.

"This corresponds to approximately 1,000 hours of operation during this period", according to the government.

The threshold will increase to 0.6 kilotonnes for the remainder of 2022 and return to 0.7 kilotonnes in 2023.

“The Le Havre and Gardanne power stations have already been closed and that of Saint-Avold will close as planned in the spring of 2022”, underlined in January the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

The Cordemais power plant in Loire-Atlantique will be able to continue to operate until 2024, despite the presidential promise, due to the risk of tension on the network, the time that the Flamanville EPR nuclear reactor comes into service.

Politics

Environmentalists angry after the creation of a green label for nuclear power plants

Planet

Electricity Shortages: Does Coal Still Have Many Years Ahead?

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