France to possibly run closed coal plant next winter

The French government is "keeping the possibility" open to run the Saint-Avold coal-fired plant if needed next winter, a representative from the French environment ministry told Argus today.

The 600MW Saint-Avold coal-fired plant, which was supposed to be permanently shut down on 31 March, could run "more hours" next winter, and will not use Russian coal. The measure would only be temporary and environmentally neutral, meaning the plant operator would offset emissions, the ministry said.

A decree allowing the plant's possible operation next winter will be soon submitted for consultation, the ministry added. A decision on the matter will be taken based on transmission system operator RTE's winter outlook, which is set to be released around November.

France issued a decree in January that increased coal-fired plants' emissions ceiling in January and February, although this did not result in higher coal-fired generation.

France also operates the 1.2GW Cordemais coal plant near Nantes.

Assuming both Saint-Avold and Cordemais run at a 60pc load factor for 31 days, they would produce 804GWh of power and burn 288,000t of NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal, assuming 40pc plant efficiency, Argus calculations show.

France produced 4.1TWh of coal-fired power in 2021, according to grid operator data. This was three times higher on the year and the highest since 2018. This equates to about 1.5mn t of NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal burnt in 40pc efficient plants.

French thermal coal imports are expected to total 2.2mn t between 1 January and 30 June, up from 892,000t during the same period in 2021, and comparable to 1H 2017 volumes, according to shipping data, although this figure may include some coking coal.

France has taken a mixture of Colombian, South African and US thermal coal cargoes this year, as well as two Indonesian shipments this month. It has also taken several Australian shipments, although it is unclear if these are coking coal volumes. France has not shipped any meaningful Russian volumes since February, and has historically imported less Russian product than some of its European peers. The EU's embargo on Russian coal imports comes into force on 10 August.

The latest indication that France could need to boost coal-fired generation this winter follows similar moves from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and the UK.

By Tatiana Serova and Alex Thackrah