“We raised the coal quota a little bit, because we need room for manoeuvre,” explains Barbara Pompili

“We raised the coal quota a little bit, because we need room for maneuver because of nuclear reactors which are shut down when they should not have been (…) But we are on proportions which are very very small”assured Barbara Pompili, Minister of Ecological Transition, this Tuesday on franceinfo. “It’s 2 to 3% of our electricity production and it’s 0.2% of our greenhouse gas emissions in France.”

The government has temporarily relaxed the limits on the use of the last coal-fired power stations to ensure the electricity supply, according to a decree published last Sunday in the Official Journal.

“Coal is enemy number one.assured Barbara Pompili. When we arrived in 2017, there were still around ten oil and coal power plants in France. Of the four coal-fired power plants, two are closed, the third will close in the spring and the other once the Flamanville EPR is in service.

“There will be no generalized blackout in France by the end of winter”, explained Barbara Pompili. If the power stations are running more it is because the government had “need to recover a certain number of margins. Today we have too many nuclear reactors which are shut down for a number of reasons due to maintenance delays and aging. I asked EDF for an audit because we We have a problem with this excessive number of reactors shut down. EDF must give me a first report in March.”

➡️ “Coal is enemy number 1” declares the Minister of Ecological Transition, who recalls that the government has closed coal-fired power plants. “Yes, we use them a little more, but we are on small proportions” which reassures: “There is no risk of a blackout” pic.twitter.com/3zC4phRJ64

— franceinfo (@franceinfo) February 8, 2022