France to Shut Half Its Coal-Fed Power Plants, Curb Energy Use

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- France will shut about half its coal-fired power stations by 2015 under a plan to lower energy consumption, cut carbon emissions and more than double the share of energy from renewable resources by 2020.

The plants targeted for closure are operated by state-controlled Electricite de France SA, Europe’s biggest power producer, and E.ON France, formerly Endesa/SNET, according to Pierre-Marie Abadie, head of energy at the Ecology and Energy Ministry. French coal-fired generators produce 7 gigawatts of power at seven sites, he said today at a press briefing in Paris.

European nations are promoting cleaner-burning power plants and alternative energy sources to cut greenhouse-gas emissions blamed for global warming. The U.K. said in April no new coal plants could be built without adopting carbon-capture technology. Germany’s RWE AG, the biggest emitter in Europe, said May 27 it won’t build new coal stations as they’re “no longer economically feasible,” while Vattenfall AB, the Nordic region’s largest utility, plans to convert its Danish coal plants to use biomass.

The French plants slated for closure will be replaced by gas-fired stations, according to ministry documents published today. The government won’t allow any new coal-fed generators to be built unless they are fitted with carbon capture and storage capability, the documents show. So-called CCS technology strips out carbon dioxide emissions for burial underground.

Carbon Cuts

France is targeting a 22 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 from 2005 levels, as well as lower energy use, according to the Energy Ministry’s plans outlined today.

“The energy revolution in France will be through energy savings and the development of renewable energies,” Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told reporters in Paris, adding that the country will increase power production from solar, wind, biomass and geothermal installations.

The government plans to cut energy consumption to 167 million tons of oil equivalent a year by 2020 from 177 million tons in 2009. It forecasts use of 202 million tons in 2020 if no energy-saving measures are taken.

France gets more than three-quarters of its energy from 58 nuclear reactors operated by EDF. The utility is building the country’s first new-generation Evolutionary Power Reactor in Flamanville, Normandy, slated to start in 2012, and has plans for another in Penly to begin in 2017. The government has also raised the possibility of a third EPR.

Construction of new reactors isn’t a response to higher power demand, Borloo said. “They will give us room to maneuver. We don’t need EPRs to meet energy needs but for replacing existing plants” if requested by the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, France’s nuclear safety watchdog.

The ASN is charged with deciding whether EDF can continue to operate reactors beyond 30 years or whether they have to be shut down. EDF has said it wants existing plants to run for more than 40 years. The ASN will inspect reactors at Tricastin this year and Fessenheim in 2010.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Guy Collins at gcollins@bloomberg.net