2023-08-24 15:59:40
No blackout this winter. Due to a temporary relaxation of greenhouse gas emission standards, two French coal-fired power stations have been granted permission to operate longer in order to avoid any winter blackouts.
Next winter, “we anticipate a lower level of tension” compared to last year, “but as a precaution, we are taking all the measures which will ensure French electricity production”, specifies the ministry.
The raised greenhouse gas emission ceiling
A decree published this Thursday in the official journal announced the raising of the greenhouse gas emission ceiling. Resulting from the Climate Law, the greenhouse gas emission ceiling applicable to energy producers now goes to “1.8 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per megawatt of electrical power installed between April 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024”.
This will allow “the plants to operate for 500 additional hours” over the period compared to the ceiling of 1,300 hours initially authorized “until the end of 2024, it is specified in the public consultation from which the decree results. These 1,800 hours correspond to 75 days of non-stop production.
In the winter of 2022-2023, the coal-fired power stations had obtained authorization to operate for 2,500 hours, or 104 continuous days.
Power plants will pay more to offset their emissions
“This ceiling gives a very wide possibility of use in the event of a big cold snap”, explains Julien Teddé, managing director of the broker Opéra Énergie. “But coal-fired power plants are controlled by economic logic anyway,” he adds, even though their operation is very expensive.
At the same time, coal-fired power plants will have to pay more for offsetting their emissions. Each ton of CO2 equivalent emitted will now cost them 50 euros instead of 40, indicates the same decree.
In France, two coal-fired power plants are still in operation in the event of a peak in electricity demand, at Cordemais in Loire-Atlantique and Saint-Avold in Moselle. Their production represented 0.6% of the French electricity mix last year, largely dominated by nuclear energy.
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