Océane Théard, edited by Thibault Nadal 6:27 a.m., March 24, 2022, modified at 6:27 a.m., March 24, 2022

Due to the war in Ukraine and the rise in the price of electricity, the government plans to postpone the closure of the Saint-Avold coal power plant in Moselle, like that of Cordemais, whose shutdown has been postponed to 2024.

Towards a backpedaling of the majority?

The government is considering postponing the closure of the coal-fired power plant in Saint-Avold, in Moselle.

With that of Cordemais, these are the last two coal-fired power stations in France.

Emmanuel Macron had pledged to close them before the end of his term.

That of Cordemais has been postponed to 2024. Saint-Avold was to close on March 31, that is to say next week.

But the crisis in Ukraine has reshuffled the cards.

At the beginning of February, the government had obtained an increase in coal quotas for two months in order to compensate for the unexpected shutdowns of nuclear reactors for corrosion problems and to secure the supply of electricity to the French. 

15 of the 56 reactors are shut down

In the entourage of the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili, it is confirmed that this hypothesis is indeed on the table.

"With the war in Ukraine, we are in a new configuration, we will take the decision in the next few days", it was added.

It should be remembered that coal emits twice as much CO2 as gas.

The government will base itself on two elements: the conclusions of the audit commissioned from EDF on the availability of its nuclear fleet for next winter.

For the moment, 15 reactors are shut down out of the 56 in France.

Some for planned maintenance operations, others for corrosion problems.

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And then another crucial element in the decision to close Saint Avold or not: Barbara Pompili asked RTE, the electricity network manager, to work on scenarios for next winter with a central question: will we have enough to supply our ten gas-fired power stations?

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There is therefore a good chance that nuclear and gas will not be enough.

The solution will then come from coal with two power stations that will have to be run at full speed.

Plants that emit twice as much CO2 as those using gas.

Nuclear energy, on the other hand, emits almost none.