“This is only the first stone, but we hope that it will lead to many more”launched Stéphane Sbraggia, the mayor of Ajaccio, on November 22 during the official launch by Luc Rémont, CEO of EDF, of the construction of the Ricanto bioenergy power plant in Ajaccio in Corsica. The formula seems agreed. In this context, it is not. It was even taken up by the deputy of Corsica du Sud, Laurent Marcangeli and by the president of the Executive Council of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni. It reflects the concerns of elected officials about further delays on a project initiated in 2007. It is crucial for the electricity supply of the island, the balancing of the network, the decarbonization of the energy mix and the improvement of the quality of the air.
With a power of 130 MW, EDF’s future Ricanto power plant must cover 20% of the island’s consumption and up to 40% at night. It will run on liquid biomass based on rapeseed or sunflower oil imported from Europe, like that of Port-Est in Reunion and the Larivot power plant under construction in Guyana since 2023.
Ricanto must gradually enter service from the end of 2027 and be fully operational in 2028 in order to replace the old Vazzio heavy fuel oil plant, located 300 meters from the new one, more than 40 years old. service. It pollutes the atmosphere, consumes a lot of water, and EDF has all the trouble in the world keeping it running. Spare parts for seven out of eight old diesel engines still in service cannot be found, as can the skills for their maintenance.
Replace the old Vazzio power plant with heavy fuel oil
The project represents an investment of 800 million euros for EDF. This is twice as much as for the Lucciana power plant, of similar power and technology, commissioned in 2014 near Bastia. It is also 300 million more than that of Larivot. But the electrician will be reimbursed thanks to a purchase contract signed with the Energy Regulatory Commission over 25 years, for a sale price of around 400 euros per MWh. A high price, which is explained in particular by the cost of liquid biomass, more expensive than the light fuel oil that it replaces, and which the Corsican Assembly demanded “that it does not come from deforestation», recalled President Gilles Simeoni. EDF will import it from Europe. An additional cost which will not weigh on the bills of Corsicans, who thanks to the equalization mechanism, financed by the CSPE (contribution to the public electricity service), pay their electricity at the same price as everywhere else in mainland France. But which will cost the state finances in total “6.3 billion euros over 25 years”specifies Emmanuelle Wargon, president of the Energy Regulatory Commission which validated the project.
The additional cost of Ricanto is also due to the fact that initially, EDF had to build a 250 MW combined gas power plant to replace that of Vazzio. The island’s energy roadmap, the multi-annual energy programming (PPE) 2016-2023, provided for 1.475 billion investments, including 400 to 500 million euros for the construction of a gas pipeline. The Corsican Assembly had in fact retained natural gas in its 2013 Regional Climate Air Energy Plan as a central element of the territory’s energy transition towards energy autonomy by 2050. But, while EDF had carried out all the studies , bought the 3.5 hectare land next to that of Vazzio from three industrialists, carried out the public inquiry and obtained all the authorizations, the gas option was abandoned in 2019, in favor liquid biomass. This has a better carbon footprint and makes it possible to reuse part of Vazzio’s installations, in particular the three fuel oil storage tanks, the Aspretto/Vazzio oil pipeline as well as the high voltage lines.
Advancing the territory towards 100% renewables
EDF PEI, EDF’s construction subsidiary, therefore had to redo all the studies, even if certain elements of the project remained. She also had to wait for a new partial revision of the PPE for the bioenergy plant project to be official. This has been done since June 30, 2023. All contracts are signed. It is the German MAN, which has already equipped the Luccina power station, which will supply the eight 17 MW engines manufactured in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique). This will optimize their maintenance and parts logistics. Project management was entrusted to the Italian company Bonatti, the new electrical substation to Ineo and the renovation of the Vazzio works kept to a group of Corsican companies, notably Raffali.
The fact remains that to achieve energy autonomy in 2050, planned in the Corsican PPE, with 100% local production of renewable electricity and a level of 75% in 2030, the road is still long. If the implementation of the Ricanto power plant and the announced conversion of that of Lucciana from light fuel oil to liquid biomass, should make it possible to “go from 30% to 60% renewable energy on the island by 2028”according to Gilles Simeoni, Corsica will still remain 30% dependent on electricity imports from Italy and Sardinia. Especially since a SACOI3 project at the start of 2030 should make it possible to strengthen the interconnection to Italy at Bastia “to increase it from 50 MW to 100 or even 150 MW”, explains Emmanuel Wargon. Also planned is the transformation of the Lugo di Nazza-Ghisoni hydroelectric dam into a pumped transfer station (STEP) to add flexibility to the island’s network. “In total, EDF will invest more than a billion euros in the next 10 years in Corsica”announced Luc Rémont, CEO of EDF. Now all that remains is to keep promises and deadlines.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
