France is studying a project to replace coal-fired power plants with biomass generation plants by 2022, with a view to securing supply in northwest France, particularly in Brittany, Kallanish Energy reports.
State-run electricity giant EDF said Monday it had reached a major milestone in the industrial implementation of the so-called Ecocombust project. The utility and the government approved a program of work leading up to a decision on whether or not to carry out the project by autumn.
France has vowed to exit coal-fired generation by 2022, forcing EDF to shut down at least two plants: Cordemais and Havre. If both the company and the government find the biomass replacement project feasible, EDF plans to start producing the fuel in 2022.
“Ecocombust is the result of work started in 2015 by EDF teams to study the development of a new kind of biomass-based fuel, originally designed to power its coal-fired plants,” the firm explained.
It basically involves producing an innovative, ecological fuel to be used to run facilities that produce heat or electricity powered by coal.
“The fuel will be produced on-site and will lead to the creation of a new sector to recycle wood waste that cannot currently be used and is usually buried or sent to landfill,” it added.
CO2 emissions in Western France could be cut by roughly 25 times by using the biomass fuel instead of coal, proponents say.
