A hydroelectric power station, recently built on the Sallanche river in Haute-Savoie and suspended last year by the courts, will be able to open pending a judgment on the merits, the mayor of the town said on Saturday.
This opening, scheduled for the next few days, was made possible by an order issued Thursday by the administrative court of appeal of Lyon, which reverses a previous judgment rendered last December by the administrative court of Grenoble. Referred to by the France Nature Environnement Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes association, this judgment blocked the project and ordered a “restoration of the site within 12 months”.
However, “it does not appear that the disputed work (…) could be regarded as an obstacle to ecological continuity”, considers the Lyon Court of Appeal in its decision. “The execution of the judgment of the administrative court of Grenoble is thus suspended until the administrative court of appeal of Lyon rules on the case on the merits”, she continues.
The mayor of the town of Sallanches, Georges Morand, welcomed this decision, considering that FNE’s appeal was “ecological nonsense”, and recalling that the management had invested 6 million euros in this brand new plant. It should now open as soon as possible, he added: “We will have no problem because we had already done tests before. So this week, if there is water, we go”.
” Common sense “
The deputy of Haute-Savoie Xavier Roseren also declared to be delighted “with this decision full of common sense in a context of energy sovereignty, inflation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”. The plant “will supply a total of the equivalent of the consumption of 20% of Sallanches homes with renewable energy”, he wrote on Facebook.
Conversely, the FNE deplored in a press release “a serious error for biodiversity”, ensuring that it does not “give up (in the face of a) temporary decision”.
“The construction of the plant on a site identified as a biological reservoir undermines the health of waterways and the survival of biodiversity. This river was however identified as a torrent that could not be developed,” she underlines.
The judgment on the merits is expected at the end of the year or the beginning of next year, according to the mayor.
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