France will make decision on replacing coal with biomass in autumn

PARIS — French utility EDF said on Monday it had reached an industrial milestone in the implementation of an ecological fuel process known as Ecocombust to replace coal in power generation, which could be used in the Cordemais and Havre plants.

France plans to phase out coal power generation by 2022, which could lead to the shutdown of the two plants. But due to concerns over securing supply, the government had asked EDF to study the possibility of using biomass as fuel.

The French energy ministry said in a separate statement on Monday that a decision on implementing EDF’s ecocombust process at the Cordemais and Havre coal power plants could be taken in the autumn. — Reuters