They cannot digest broken promises and they have decided to make it known. Eight parliamentarians from Loire-Atlantique sent a letter to the President of the Republic on Tuesday, to remind him of his promises. “We still have two coal-fired power stations operating, in Cordemais and Saint-Avold. We are going to completely convert them to biomass,” declared Emmanuel Macron on September 24, 2023. Except that a little over a year later, EDF management has just announced the complete closure of the Cordemais power plant from 2027.
Located in this town bordering the Loire between Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, this coal-fired power plant is particularly polluting. An observation that the deputies and senators of the department do not deny. Moreover, none wanted to maintain the existing activity.
With my colleague @SegoleneAmiot and 6 other parliamentarians from Loire-Atlantique, we call on Mr. Macron to remind him of his commitments on the future and the conversion of the Cordemais power station.
The State must reverse the unacceptable decision to close by EDF. pic.twitter.com/6JoXid0ksk
— Matthias Tavel (@MatthiasTavel) October 22, 2024
I accept
No, what parliamentarians from the left and the center were waiting for was a conversion to biomass, as EDF had once mentioned. Before turning back. “For us, this decision is unacceptable. It is a betrayal of the presidential word. It constitutes a unilateral challenge by the State to the so-called “Cordemais” pact signed in 2020 by the State with local authorities.”
The project was then to convert the tool into a biomass boiler room capable of swallowing wood waste produced locally. An idea driven by employees and supported locally.
However, the interest in transforming the power plant seemed obvious. Already connected to the 400,000 volt RTE network, the factory represented the most powerful electricity production site in Pays-de-la-Loire. According to elected officials, 350 EDF work on the plant, as well as 120 subcontractors. “Hundreds of families, many of whom have already experienced the tragedy of the closure of other industrial sites, will be affected,” denounce the elected officials.
The abandonment of EDF still not explained
In September, the CGT revealed EDF’s decision to “stop the Ecocombust 2 project” due to “unfruitful discussions with Paprec” (EDF’s partner on the project) and “not having the State in economic support -industrial”. According to the union, in the event of closure of the plant, “EDF proposes to build a pipe manufacturing plant on the Cordemais site by its subsidiary Framatome”, which could ultimately represent 200 jobs. But for the union, it will never be ready for 2027, instead leaving room for an “industrial wasteland”.
