By AUDE LE GENTIL
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— The Public Debate Commission is touched by its desire to be destroyed
— Hydro dams: Marie-Noëlle Battistel did not wait for Roland Lescure
— Green hydrogen: consuming local is not more expensive !
Hello everyone, It’s Friday April 12 and we are (already) closing our first week! For the occasion, let’s let a very worried little mute and a report still kept secret speak.
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AT THE END OF THE VIEWFINDER. “Faintness.” Since it was designated as slowing down the development of new industrial projects by Gabriel Attal, this is the word that has come back into the mouths – however rather sewn – of several members of the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), which my colleague Arthur Nazaret consulted.
“We might be executed without complaining”, pours out one of his executives. Which exaggerates a bit. No one yet knows if the CNDP will have their heads cut off, their wings cut off, or if their executioner will offer them a little moment of respite. Bercy attempted complete disappearance during the Simplification bill, but the measure was not retained in the preliminary draft, according to the document obtained by my colleague Paul de Villepin.
Not even afraid. The president of the CNDP, Marc Papinutti waits until he is in pain before shouting. Not running the microphones, he agreed to respond to us by a long email. His institution has seen others and is getting stronger every year, he writes. Moving on a tightrope, he says he is open to “developments” but neither is the delaying aspect of his action.
A discreet position which does not satisfy everyone at the commission, as you can read in the article of Arthur, who was able to collect several testimonies from the heart of this little mute.
THE SIMPLE MINE. No (yet) suppression of public debate, but facilitations in all directions underground. The Simplification bill wants to modify mining law “to facilitate the energy transition” (article 20).
Faster, longer. One measure intends to halve the deadlines for obtaining an exclusive exploration permit, for geothermal energy, lithium mines or even the search for natural hydrogen. Another encourages the reconversion of hydrocarbon wells into CO2 storage spaces.
After-sales service. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, will return to this overhaul of the mining code during a visit to a geothermal power plant site this morning in Villetaneuse (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Outdoors. In the rest of the bill, we also note an article allowing derogations from local town planning plans to install renewable heating or air conditioning systems (article 21), another removing the consideration of the carbon footprint in calls for approval. biogas supply (article 22), but also a new, less restrictive definition of compensation for damage to biodiversity (article 19).
At 10:30 a.m., Agnès Pannier-Runacher’s trip to the Drôme devoted to agrivoltaism, then visit to a methanization unit in Isère.
At 12 o’clock, trip Christophe Béchu on the subject of flooding in Pas-de-Calais.
At 14 hours, debate in the Senate on the theme “Ecological planning and regional COPs: how effective? “.
DAM DAM. MP Marie-Noëlle Battistel (PS) pulls the rug out from under Roland Lescure. To resolve the long-running problem of French hydroelectric dams, the latter’s cabinet announced to the press yesterday that it meant creating a parliamentary mission to prepare the ground. He was overtaken.
“Impatient with the inertia around this issue”, the author of a report on the subject brought together on Wednesday morning a small transpartisan working group (without the RN) on this subject, made up of the leaders of each group on energy issues. The assembled deputies will discuss how to get out of the dispute with the European Union which “calls on France to put its hydroelectric works into competition”. Magnanimous, Battistel had warned the minister last week that she would not watch the water flow under the bridges.
If all goes well, the work will be finished this summer and could lead to a bill. “Everyone agrees that we should not accept competitive bidding, which was not the case ten years ago,” says Marie-Noëlle Battistel. The socialists lean towards a semi-governed regime. EDF, for its part, is pushing for an authorization regime, which would require the State to cede the dams to the company.
“Exiting this legal situation is essential to relaunch investment and allow the development of the remaining potential,” Emmanuelle Verger-Chabot, director of EDF Hydro, also impatiently explained to the senators on March 19.
Round table. Wednesday morning, Matthias Tavel (LFI) and Antoine Armand (Renaissance) were present. Sébastien Jumel (Communist) was represented. The list of auditions, travel and working method were studied. Absent this time, Raphaël Schellenberger (LR) promises to participate in the next meetings. “The government has become powerless, we must move forward on strategic issues in spite of itself,” he texts us.
LOCALISM. Green hydrogen Made in France will be just as efficient as its imported equivalent. Let’s support local sectors, concludes a report commissioned by the Ministry of Energy on the subject. This document is kept secret, but its key messages were shared during the last National Hydrogen Council on April 26 and reported to yours truly by two participants. It thus reinforces the government strategy which favors production over imports.
According to this report, large volumes can be produced at low cost in the Maghreb, the Middle East or even in Spain, thanks to a strong potential for renewable energies. But the complexity of transport, for pipeline or boat, will salt the bill. Conversely, the French sector, close to the consumer, benefits from low-carbon and cheap electricity.
The world is well made, the report also retrieves the analysis from France Hydrogène, which brings together players in the sector, published in March. Discordant voices in the sector, however, are calling for a position to be taken without delay, otherwise the main routes of international trade will bypass France.
The future national hydrogen strategy, expected before summer, will include the recommendations of this new report. The draft text, published in December, opened the door to imports for the first time, “in addition” to national production.
ENGIE TURBINE FOR EUROPE. The gas company intends to influence the European elections. Yesterday, she published several proposals to accelerate the energy transition on the continent, because it is on this scale that the issues must be understood, Catherine MacGregor analyzed in front of a few journalists yesterday.
Deviating from the usual oppositions between energy sources, the boss of Engie welcomes the “complementarity” of the European system, thanks to the diversity of energy mixes. On condition, she emphasizes, that we focus on energy networks and their flexibility.
“The technologies necessary for the existing energy transition, at an affordable and competitive cost,” insists the CEO of Engie. She nevertheless notes “challenges” with biomethane and hydrogen, in terms of “cost and availability”.
To reindustrialize Europe, Engie believes that the energy transition is the ideal lever. But it will require support. The wind turbine sector could be targeted to enable its relocation, by being favored in one way or another in calls for tenders. And to help, the Net Zero Industry Act “goes in the right direction”, by allowing criteria other than financial ones to be included in calls for tender.
In terms of objectives, European ambition is at the right level. The important thing now is its translation in each country. “We need renewable energy objectives in French texts,” insists MacGregor. And in particular on-shore wind power, no offense to those who “use” them for a “political fight”.
— GRDF details its decarbonization objectives for 2030 and advocates (unsurprisingly) the rise of methanization, in Le Figaro.
— The mapping of geographical areas with high potential for renewable energies, carried out by Cerema and the IGN, has been updated.
— Scaring, bubble walls, recycling of blades… Offshore wind power is trying to reduce its environmental impact, not without difficulties, deciphers L’Usine Nouvelle.
A big thank you to our editor Alexandre Léchenet.
Politico
