The subject is delicate but eminently strategic for the French economy and industry. The government will include in the draft law on simplification, which must be presented to the Council of Ministers at the end of April, a proposal for “modernization of mining law”, in order to facilitate the deployment of geothermal energy in France. and mining operations. The announcement was made by the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial Sovereignty, Bruno Le Maire, Friday April 12 in the morning, during a trip to Seine-Saint-Denis, on the construction site of the Villetaneuse geothermal power plant.
The government objective is twofold: on the one hand, to develop geothermal energy and the capture of underground heat, which “provides free, accessible and carbon-free energy”, we specify in the office of Roland Lescure, the delegate minister in charge of industry and energy; on the other, allow the opening of mines to extract strategic minerals – such as lithium or copper, among others – essential to the energy transition with the aim of powering electric batteries or wind turbines.
However, the return of mines to France is strongly criticized by environmental associations and installation projects are often opposed by local populations. “The simplification bill will help accelerate projects that are essential for the energy transition and can contribute to our economic prosperity”declared Bruno Le Maire, affirming that “the French mine, in the 21st centurye century, [était] an environmental model ».
“Environmental authorization phase unchanged”
The modernization proposal consists in particular of speeding up the administrative procedures to obtain an exclusive research permit. On the model of the simplification instituted by the so-called “green industry” law of 2023 with a view to accelerating the installation times of industrial sites, the government wants to halve the examination of the various consultations (of State services , local authorities, local populations, etc.) to develop a mining or geothermal project, which currently take between sixteen and eighteen months, or even two years. “The environmental authorization phase will, however, remain unchanged and will not be accelerated”we specify at Bercy.
The government wants to increase deep geothermal projects by 40% by 2030, to reach renewable heat production of six terawatt hours (TWh) per year, compared to two currently. In surface geothermal energy, the plan aims to double the annual rate of installation of heat pumps by 2025, for a target of 10 TWh in 2030 (it was 3.2 TWh in 2022). Concerning critical minerals, forecasts anticipate a need of 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes per year of primary lithium for electric mobility by 2035, and 35,000 tonnes of copper per year to achieve the deployment objectives of wind turbines and solar panels.
You have 31.48% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.