Energy uncertainties linked to war in Ukraine and the problems of the French nuclear park could lead to the temporary reopening of this site.
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In 2017, candidate Emmanuel Macron undertook to close the last French coal power plants in a five -year period, the most polluting fuel. A promise still pending five years later, to the chagrin of environmental defense associations, after the re -election of the President of the Republic. According to the version of a future bill revealed Sunday, June 26 by RTL and consulted by Le Monde, the government plans to restart the Saint-Avold power station (Moselle) provisionally for the winter of 2022.
The entourage of Agnes Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition, confirms the development of a “temporary” measure. The Lorrain site stopped operating on March 31. A brief reopening would make it possible to have, if necessary between the end of 2022 and early 2023, of a small additional margin of safety to avoid power cuts. In March, the Ministry of Ecological Transition had already announced the possibility of such “punctual restart”.
is that the end of the year is announced under “particular vigilance”, according to the French manager of the electricity transport network, RTE. Especially due to nuclear power, the main source of electricity in France. For the current year, the operator EDF has been expecting at the lowest production in three decades. In question, corrosion problems on certain power plants, as well as a delay linked to the COVVI-19 in conventional maintenance operations.
For a decade, the State has been engaged in the following equation: preserving the balance between supply and electric demand, while abandoning several thermal units with fuel oil and coal, especially for environmental reasons. As well as the Fessenheim nuclear power plant (Haut-Rhin), in 2020, by political decision. However, the country still accuses a delay on its objectives of renewable energies such as wind and solar, by nature intermittent.
The war waged by Russia in Ukraine since February 24, makes the context all the more uncertain. “Even if France depends less on Russian gas than Germany or Italy, the weakening of the production of its nuclear fleet and tensions on water stocks of its hydraulic dams mark the return of safety problems supply, “said Patrice Geoffron, professor of economics at Paris-Dauphine-Psl University.
This is also why the leaders of the three main energy groups in the country displayed their wish for “a great program of energy efficiency and [of] a hunt for national waste” to save energy, according to The words of Jean-Bernard Lévy (EDF), Catherine Macgregor (Engie) and Patrick Pouyanné (Totalenergies), in a platform published by the JDD, June 26.
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