The energy company, a subsidiary of the Czech group EPH, confirmed to L’Usine Nouvelle on September 30 that several scenarios were still on the desk of the General Directorate of Energy and Climate (DGEC). Among the three options presented last July, two are based on replacing coal with gas. “Unlike Cordemais which aimed for a full conversion to biomass, our Emile Huchet power plant benefits from a connection to the gas distribution network for which we pay an access fee every year, even if we do not have the right to do so. use», explains Camille Jaffrelo, director of public affairs at GazelEnergie.
While the Moselle thermal power station is ready to restart for a new winter, the energy company which employs a total of 500 people (turnover of 3 billion euros in 2023) hopes to have by the end of the year a response from the DGEC. The new Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, knows the issue well. In previous ministerial functions, she went to Saint-Avold in December 2021 and co-signed the law of August 16, 2022 ratifying the restart of the Emile Huchet power plant (law relating to emergency measures for the protection of purchasing power).
GazelEnergie believes that the French electricity network needs more “controllable” means of production, as opposed to solar and wind energy, which cannot be controlled. In its latest half-yearly report dated July 2024, RTE (electricity transmission network) notes that “residual consumption, that is to say consumption which is not covered by non-controllable renewable energies and which is therefore aimed at the controllable production fleet (nuclear, flame thermal and controllable hydraulic) is subject to a much greater amplitude than it was historically. The EPH subsidiary finally recalls the commitments made by the State to maintain the 72 jobs in the coal unit.
Towards a biogas plant?
Among the three scenarios considered, one of them plans the construction of a new electricity production plant from gas, an investment estimated between 500 million and 1.2 billion euros, for maximum power of 900MW. Another scenario would be to replace half of the coal ore with pellets with a high calorific value or “black-pellets”. But this project, half coal, half biomass (100 million euros of investment) would amount to a departure from the objective of phasing out coal by 2027… In this context, the last option, the conversion of existing gas unit seems the most realistic. The 540MW installation would require an investment of 110 million euros. At the output, the electric megawatt hour produced by combustion of natural gas would emit less than 535 kg of CO2, compared to 980 kg for coal. “With a limited operating time of between 300 and 700 hours per year, we could even approach carbon neutrality thanks to the injection of biogas into our processes.advances Camille Jaffrelo.
On a technical level, the conversion could be carried out in two six-month work phases, in the spring of 2025 and 2026, without interruption to the normal operation of the plant. After running 1,200 hours during its first return to service, the Emile Huchet power plant ran 150 hours during the milder winter of 2023-2024.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
