Crise énergétique : La France redémarre la centrale à charbon de Saint-Avold

Faced with rising energy demand, the French government decided to restart the Saint-Avold coal-fired power station in eastern France on Monday, 28 November.

Closed since March, the Émile-Huchet coal-fired power station in Saint-Avold (Moselle) started producing electricity again on Monday morning. Although this type of plant emits a lot of CO2, the government, which had promised to close the last coal-fired power plants in the country as part of the fight against climate change, nevertheless wishes to maximize its chances of securing the country’s supply.

The temperatures, hitherto relatively mild, are now “seasonal, and we have been called upon to produce since 9 a.m. this Monday morning,” said site director Philippe Lenglart.

A resumption of service linked to the energy crisis. The first frosts and the start of heating systems increase France’s energy demand. And, with the cessation of Russian fuel deliveries and part of the French nuclear reactors shut down for maintenance, the risk of load shedding is sévère in the country this winter.

The Moselle power station, one of the last in France to run on coal, should have closed its doors permanently after last winter. But its operation was finally extended by the government due to the drop in energy production, precisely linked to the shutdown of several nuclear power plant reactors.

This restart took place later than expected. Initially, the Gazel Energie company was to restart at the beginning of October, ” but with the mild temperatures, demand was not strong enough. The purchase price on the market was not high enough for it to be profitable to restart production”, explains France Bleu Lorraine.

The government has therefore chosen to reopen the Saint-Avold power plant, a restart which “is part of the closure plan”, underlined the Ministry of Energy Transition. The ministry insisted that French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to close all coal-fired power stations in France remained “unchanged”.

The ministry also underlined that electricity production from coal in France will remain below one percent.

President Macron had indeed promised, during his first term, to close the last four coal-fired power plants in the country. Because, despite only representing a bit more than 1% of electricity production in 2020, they constituted more than a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions of the French electricity sector.

Coal is the main source of CO2 emissions in the world. The Saint-Avold power plant will need 500,000 tonnes of coal to operate until the end of March 2023.
The Émile-Huchet plant, when operating at full capacity, produces up to 600 megawatt hours and can supply one-third of the homes in the Grand Est region.

Billy Omeonga

Billy Omeonga est diplômé en journalisme et en création littéraire. Je suis titulaire d'une licence en administration des affaires. Je poursuis actuellement un MBA à l'Université du Peuple aux États-Unis d'Amérique. J'aime les activités qui font appel aux idées et à la pensée critique. Je suis passionnée par la nature et la protection de l'environnement. Je crois en la protection de notre planète et de ses ressources naturelles. Je déteste les personnes malhonnêtes et pessimistes. L'honnêteté fait partie intégrante de ma vision du monde et c'est une valeur à laquelle je crois fermement. Je parle couramment le français et l'anglais. Pendant mon temps libre, j'aime lire et jouer du piano. Je désapprouve également le manque de fiabilité. Je suis une personne fiable, et j'attends donc un certain niveau de fiabilité de la part de mes interlocuteurs.

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