The government plans to relaunch the Saint-Avold coal-fired power plant


next winter

adds reactions from former employee and CSE representative

PARIS (awp/afp) – The coal-fired power plant in Saint-Avold (Moselle) should restart next winter “as a precaution, given the situation in Ukraine” and tensions on the energy market, confirmed Sunday the Ministry of Energy Transition.

“We keep the possibility of being able to operate the Saint-Avold power station for a few more hours if we need it next winter,” said the ministry, confirming information from RTL.

The decision is not a total surprise: the government had not ruled out, when the plant was closed on March 31, restarting it from time to time to secure the country’s electricity supply given the conflict in Ukraine and setbacks encountered by EDF’s nuclear fleet.

This restart “is part of the closure plan”, reiterated the ministry, which specifies that Emmanuel Macron’s commitment to close all coal-fired power stations in France “remains unchanged”.

“We would remain, in any case, below 1% of electricity produced by coal”, assures the ministry, “and no Russian coal would be used”.

Consequently, “a decree will be put out for consultation to organize this possibility of operation next winter”. It will include “environmental compensation” because this restart must be neutral for the environment, the operator committing to “reforestation projects for example”, according to the ministry.

The government also plans to include “legislative adjustments” this summer in the purchasing power bill so that the social plan concerning the plant is not canceled, “which shows the government’s determination to definitively close this plant in coal”.

Employees ready to return

When it closed, 87 employees were still working in the Émile Huchet plant. Half have since retired. To run the plant, around 70 people are needed, according to its director Philippe Lenglart, who told AFP in March that he intended to recall former employees rather than recruit if necessary this winter.

There is only one other coal-fired power plant still open in France, in Cordemais, in Loire-Atlantique.

“Finally! We have known for a few months that we are going to have an energy supply problem next winter, we should never have let GazelEnergie (owner of the power plant, editor’s note) stop the installation”, reacted Jean- Pierre Damm, elected to the CSE and union delegate FO.

According to him, “a very large majority” of employees would be ready to return to operate the plant for one more winter, but the announced decree would have to be published quickly to allow the necessary maintenance and regulatory control work, which could require ” two months at best.

Last March, “we stopped the installation with a security setting, there was no dismantling, we keep it in full functional condition if necessary”, explained to AFP Thomas About, who worked at the Saint-Avold plant since 2009 and is currently on redeployment leave.

If the State officially decides to relaunch the plant for next winter and GazelEnergie asks the employees to come back, “I would be interested, with pleasure, it is a job that I particularly liked, and in addition, it is to meet a need of the country,” he said.

A meeting of the corporate social committee (CSE) is scheduled for Wednesday.

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