Germany-based utility Uniper wants the French government to clarify its timetable for phasing-out coal urgently, with its entire French unit under strategic review due to those plans, it said Thursday.
"The statements released by the government as part of the multi-year energy planning process (PPE) fall far short of providing a sound basis for business decisions," it said.The end of coal-fired power production by end-2021 jeopardizes Uniper's activities in France as a whole, it said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday re-iterated plans to fast-track coal plant closures.
"Despite France's withdrawal from coal-fired power generation, we have yet to be presented with a binding legal framework," Uniper board member Eckhardt Ruemmler said, calling for clarity "within a matter of weeks" to find a solution for its 500 employees.
Uniper operates two of France's five remaining coal plants (two 600-MW units in Provence and Lorraine) as well as two 400-MW gas-fired units, the 150-MW Provence 4 biomass unit and 100-MW of wind and solar capacity.According to Uniper, strikes at company sites have hit power production since the summer.
In early November, Uniper France called for expressions of interest in the re-purposing of its coal-fired power plants at Saint-Avold and Gardanne.
French state-owned utility EDF operates the other three remaining French coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 1.8 GW and has also warned of possible industrial action.EDF modernized its coal units in 2015 and 2016 under the "Coal 2035" program, but may now be forced to convert to biomass or waste with first proposals presented this summer.
