2023-11-10 20:22:18
Opponents of the Gardanne biomass plant (Bouches-du-Rhône) did not obtain from the courts the cessation of exploitation that they demanded. At least for now. The Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal gave its owner, GazelEnergie, one year to carry out a new environmental impact study. The previous one, carried out at the launch of the project in 2012, was canceled in May by the Council of State which deemed it insufficient.
A decision welcomed with satisfaction by the operator. “ In liaison with the prefecture, we have already started working to provide the additional information requested and design offices have been commissioned », Explains Camille Jaffrelo, spokesperson for GazelEnergie.
This is yet another legal twist. In 2017, several associations including France Nature Environnement (FNE) and the Luberon and Verdon regional natural parks, had already obtained a first cancellation of operation by the Marseille administrative court. In 2018, the Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal suspended the execution of this decision, before overturning the first instance judgment in 2020.
A project supported by the State
On paper, replacing a coal-fired power plant with a power plant running on wood and green waste seems like a good idea. The project, launched more than ten years ago by the German E.ON, the owner at the time, who had invested 250 million in the reconversion of the site, had also received strong support from the State.
It responded to a call for tenders launched in 2010 by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), which was looking for an alternative to coal to ensure the balance of the network, during peak periods, in a region which suffers from a chronic production deficit. With a capacity of 150 MW, the biomass plant can meet 6% of regional needs. Even today, the government highlights security of supply to justify the interest in this plant.
Very disrupted operation
GazelEnergie, owned by businessman Daniel Kretinsky, who took over the site in 2019, continued the project, despite numerous oppositions, technical problems and repeated social conflicts, which disrupted operations, since the first tests carried out in 2016. The CGT blocked the start-up of the biomass plant to protest against the planned shutdown of the neighboring coal-fired unit.
In 2019, it only operated for 500 hours and around the same in 2021. In 2022, it ran around 3,000 hours, half as much as provided for in the contract signed with the network manager. Still enough time to consume 350,000 tonnes of wood. At cruising speed, the biomass plant should need 850,000 tonnes per year.
Associations denounce the risks for the Mediterranean forest
That’s the problem. Since the beginning, environmental defense associations have denounced the gigantism of the installation and its consequences deemed harmful for the Mediterranean forest. Operation of the site “provides for the felling of hundreds of thousands of trees per year, their transport over several hundred kilometers, to produce electricity which will cost three times the market price”, estimates France nature environment.
The new study must therefore “indicate the list of all local or regional forest areas”specifying “their location, the quantities used, the wood species concerned, the types of cutting carried out as well as the impacts on these massifs in terms of landscapes, natural environments and biological balances”details the Administrative Court of Appeal, explaining that the same analysis must be carried out for wood coming from abroad.
Today, half of the supplies come from France and the rest mainly from Europe. “ Everything is certified sustainable », Says Camille Jaffrelo. Initially, it was planned that the local share would gradually become the majority, and even reach 100% in 2026. The plan has since been revised, in order to maintain activity in the port of Marseille and retain the employment of dockers who unloaded up to ‘then coal.
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