According to one source, on Monday 28 January, French Utility company EDF Energy reported it had reached an industrial milestone in its implementation of the so-called Ecocombust project. This ecological fuel process, which replaces coal with biomass in power generation, could be used in EDF’s Cordemais and Havre plants.
As a nation, France plans to phase out coal power generation by 2022. This could lead to the shutdown of two of EDF’s coal-fired power plants: Cordemais and Havre.
“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 company explained.
The process 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 onsite 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,” the company added.
In a separate statement on Monday, the French Energy Ministry said that a decision on implementing EDF’s ecocombust process at the Cordemais and Havre coal power plants could be taken in the autumn.