Share of fossil fuel generation shrinks in French power mix

Joachim Moxon

02-Oct-2014

As the French power mix prepares for a greener future, the decline of fossil-fuelled power plants has caused the country’s transmission system operator (TSO) RTE to sound the alarm over potential winter shortages. France’s fleet of coal-fired plants is ageing and struggling to uphold emissions standards, while the gas-fired fleet, once projected as the solution to replace coal, is losing the battle to maintain profitability.

Fossil-fuelled capacity in France has fallen 50% compared with last year, according to a brief released by RTE last month ( see EDEM 10 September 2014 ). The decline has hit coal in particular. Seven coal-fired units, with a combined capacity of 2.1GW, have closed since 2013 and RTE expects a further eight units, with a combined capacity of 1.9GW, to shut down by the end of next year. At that point, the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive will be replaced by the on Industrial Emissions Directive, imposing standards that most French coal plants will not be able to meet.

The decline in fossil-fuelled plants has already reached “historically low levels” and production was surpassed by wind-generated power for the months of July and August, RTE has stated. Profitability for coal plants has been increasingly hard to maintain since January 2013 when carbon certificates were no longer issued for free and must be obtained on market terms, industry participants agree.

French incumbent EDF plans to close the 500MW Blenod coal-fired plant at by the end of 2014, while the 250MW Bouchain, 500MW La Maxe and 500MW Vitry plants will all be closed in 2015. The remaining 1.2GW plant at Cordemais and the 600MW plant at Le Havre may still have more lifespan left, as EDF is currently “developing an important modernisation plan in order to comply with the new environmental legislations that will come into force in 2016,” a company spokeswoman explained.

German energy company E.ON entered the French market in 2008, when it acquired the production capacity of French utility SNET. The 245MW Lucy plant was closed on 31 March along with one 115MW unit at the Emile Huchet plant in Saint Avold ( see EDEM 2 April 2014 ), while a second 330MW unit at Saint Avold is “on track” to close, a spokeswoman stated. One 250MW unit at Provence is currently being converted into a 150MW biomass plant, leaving only two units with a combined capacity of 1200MW at Provence and Emile Huchet, which both were upgraded to meet future requirements in 2007.

Gas-fired capacity reduced

Meanwhile, gas-fired capacity cannot be counted on to fill the gap as production has been ramped down or reduced to winter activity due to negative profit margins. In fact, this development is in large part due to coal, which has depressed power prices across Europe as US coal consumption has been reduced in favour of shale gas, freeing up coal supply to Europe.

As a consequence, French energy company GDF Suez has mothballed its 490MW Cycofos plant in Fos-sur-Mer for a period of 4 years. It has also reduced the 425MW Combigolfe and 430MW Spem plants to run only during the winter, leaving only the 800MW DK6 plant to run throughout the year. As such, Combigolfe began firing on 30 September while Spem is scheduled to come on the grid on 11 October, according to data released GDF Suez’ transparency website.

Austrian utility Verbund took over the production capacity of the French power provider Poweo in 2009, but has already mothballed the 422MW plant in Toul, which was commissioned in 2012, and the 420MW plant in Pont-sur-Sambre ( see EDEM 14 May 2014 ). Both plants are “held for sale,” a spokeswoman has explained.

The Swiss utility Alpiq has suspended plans for a new 420MW gas-fired plant in Monchy-au-Bois, but declined to comment on the future of the existing 408MW plant at Bayet Morant. However, “combined-cycle power stations are under heavy pressure,” a spokesman explained, adding that profitability is continuously being reviewed and that Alpiq has closed four plants in recent years in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. “Whether additional power plants will be closed, depends on the market development,” he said.

EDF, on the other hand, has stated that it has no plan to mothball either the 430MW plant at Blenod or the 930MW plant at Martigues, while an additional 575MW plant at Bouchain is planned for 2016 ( see EDEM 23 September 2014 ).

Fuel oil plant upgrades in question

EDF also operates eight fuel oil-fired plants representing a combined capacity of 5.3GW. Only two have been upgraded to meet future emissions standards, prompting RTE to presume in its forecasts that six plants will need to close by 31 December 2015. The six plants, representing a combined capacity of 3.8GW, are currently operating under an exemption from the current emissions directive. However, “there is no decision on the future of our fuel oil plants at the moment,” a spokeswoman said. Joachim Moxon

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