The French Ministry of Energy Transition has authorised the two remaining coal-fired power in the country to operate longer to avoid any winter blackouts, and this until the end of 2024, through a temporary relaxation of greenhouse gas emission standards. Indeed, the greenhouse gas emission ceiling applicable to energy producers has been raised to 1.8 KtCO2eq/MW between 1 April 2023 and 31 December 2024, allowing the plants to operate for 500 additional hours over the period compared to the ceiling of 1,300 hours initially authorised until the end of 2024. However, coal-fired plant will have to pay €50/tCO2eq, compared to €40/t CO2eq previously.
The country was initially planning to phase out coal-fired generation in 2022. France has two coal-fired power plants currently in operation: the 1.2 GW Cordemais plant in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, owned and operated by EDF, and the 600 MW Émile-Huchet plant, located in Moselle and controlled by GazelEnergie, an affiliate of Czech energy group EPH. Coal-fired generation accounted for around 1% of France’s electricity mix in 2022, which is dominated by nuclear power (62% in 2022).
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