In Landivisiau, "the last gas-fired power station" emerges from the groundTHE CURIOSITIES OF HOLIDAY ROUTES (6/8) The combined cycle power station, under construction over more than 7 hectares in Finistère, is visible from afar. The huge TotalEnergies plant, one of which is nearly 50 meters high, will be operational at the end of the year and will help avoid blackouts. It will be the last of its kind in France.
By Stanislas du Guerny Published on August 11, 2021 LesEchos
Spread over 7,5 hectares, the plant marks the landscape of the industrial area of Le Vern. (PHOTOPQR / THE TELEGRAMME / MAXPPP)By traveling on the double-lane road between Rennes and Brest, the view of the future combined cycle power station of Landivisiau (Finistère) is spectacular. Spread over 7,5 hectares, the plant marks the landscape of the industrial area of Le Vern where it is located, on the outskirts of this small town of 9.000 inhabitants. This vast complex, which is currently being completed, is made up of 3 buildings, the most imposing of which is the heat recovery unit, which sits more than 40 meters high.
A curiosity, because this type of project should not be followed by others. In a recent interview with the daily "Le Télégramme", the Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, indicated, in fact, that Landivisiau will be "the last gas-fired power station built in France".
Brittany never in the darkThe origin of this investment dates back ten years when the Regional Council of Brittany, then chaired by Jean-Yves Le Drian - the current Minister of Foreign Affairs - obtained from the State the signing of the Breton Electricity Pact. The objective was then to put in place a proactive strategy to solve the recurring problem of electricity shortage in the event of winter overheating in a region far from electricity production sites and to avoid the risk of blackout.
The fact remains that, for ten years, Brittany has never been completely in the dark! This makes many residents say that "this plant is nonsense". Opinions are, in any case, very divided. “It is a source of pride for our small town to host this type of project,” says one of the many onlookers who came to see the site up close.
If the schedule for the end of the work is respected and the tests carried out this summer prove to be positive, the plant will be fully operational in December 2021. It will operate in winter, but also at other periods depending on energy needs, and will be operational. able to produce 446 MW of electricity per year.
Siemens is responsible, on behalf of TotalEnergies, to build the site and then operate it. More than 450 million euros are invested by TotalEnergies in Landivisiau. In return, the group will receive annually from EDF the sum of 40 million euros to operate the site for twenty-five years.
"Thanks to its flexibility, it will be ideal for compensating for the fluctuation in the amount of electricity produced by wind and solar power plants," said Xavier Caïtucoli, two years ago, who had won the contract when he was president. of the company Direct Energie, now part of TotalEnergies.
While ten years ago, Brittany produced 8% of the electricity it consumed, thanks to onshore wind power and photovoltaics, it now produces 20% of its needs. Which, according to opponents of this project, suggests that a power plant would no longer be useful.
"In this case, we were the earthen pot against the iron pot", laments Jean-Yves Quéméneur, president of the Force 5 association, which sought to prevent construction, as soon as the investment was announced. . His fight was punctuated by demonstrations - he even found himself in police custody for a few hours during one of them - and numerous legal episodes.
Two appeals are still awaiting a decision from the Council of State. A request was also lodged with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for non-respect of the Constitution, but this was rejected. Unless there is a last-minute court decision in favor of the association, the combined cycle plant will soon come into operation.
Low mobilization
But Landivisiau is not Plogoff. As much as Brittany stood up at the end of the 1970s against the project to create a nuclear power station in the small Finistère town of Plogoff, the mobilization was weak in an attempt to derail the Landivisiau power plant.
The project is also supported by the employers who demand a guarantee of electricity supply, but also by Laurence Clarisse, the mayor of Landivisiau, for whom the plant will be "without nuisance, without pollution". It should, of course, emit 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
But renewable energies being by nature intermittent, Brittany, which is often qualified as an electric peninsula so far from the majority of French nuclear power plants, has a great need to guarantee a production of electricity that can be quickly mobilized in the event of a power peak. the consumption.
What must it be in the messaging or the TP ....
