{"id":33047,"date":"2016-05-26T23:27:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T13:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=33047"},"modified":"2022-05-02T11:07:46","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T01:07:46","slug":"hazelwood-closure-or-sale-mooted-by-engie-ceo-under-pressure-of-french-government-reports-takvera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/hazelwood-closure-or-sale-mooted-by-engie-ceo-under-pressure-of-french-government-reports-takvera\/","title":{"rendered":"Hazelwood closure or sale mooted by Engie CEO, under pressure of French Government reports @takvera"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"French

French Minister of Ecology Segolene Royal on France 2 TV Cash Investigations on Engie<\/p><\/div>\n

Engie’s CEO Isabelle Kocher told a French Senate Committee on May 25th the company was considering closure or sale of the Hazelwood Power Station in the LaTrobe Valley of Victoria. <\/p>\n

“For the Hazelwood plant, we are studying all possible scenarios, including closure, or a sale if the state of Victoria tells us that it cannot meet power generating needs without this plant,” Kocher said, according to a Reuters<\/em> report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Hazelwood

Hazelwood postcard<\/p><\/div>As the French state is a major owner of Engie, Minister of Ecology S\u00e9gol\u00e8ne Royal announced on French TV on May 25th that Engie would “disengage” from the Hazelwood plant. During the interview the Minister was presented with a postcard by Environment Victoria regarding the 2014 mine fire. At the end of the show she was handed a mailbag full of postcards.<\/p>\n

\nEnvironment Victoria Campaigns Manager Nicholas Aberle called for Engie and the Victorian Government to collaborate in planning an orderly transition in the closure of the Hazelwood power station and mine, in conjunction with the local community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time for the Andrews government and Engie to now work together on a timetable for the phase-out of Hazelwood which reduces our climate pollution, delivers good rehabilitation outcomes and supports workers and the Latrobe Valley community to diversify the local economy.” Aberle said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Engie’s Australian operations stressed in a media release that despite “difficult trading conditions which continue to be experienced in the National Electricity Market”, that “any decisions on investment, divestment or closure are made by the ENGIE Board, with approval by shareholders. No such decision has been made regarding Hazelwood.”<\/p>\n

Morwell State MP Russell Northe (The Nationals) called for a phased closure, “It is important from my perspective that we don’t have a closure at a point in time. I think if there was gradual shut down of units that would be a far better proposition for any transition in the Latrobe Valley. A gradual closure gives the opportunity for staff, employees to better cater for that type of transition.” said Mr Northe according to an ABC report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Greens State MP and spokeperson on Energy Ellen Sandell said, “What this means is we urgently need leadership from the Victorian Labor Government to put in a transition plan so that the workers and the community have alternative jobs for when Hazelwood closes, which might be a lot sooner than expected.”<\/p>\n

But it seems the Andrews Government haven’t drawn up any engagement or transition plans to anticipate closure or sale. Victoria Resources Minister Wade Noonan said there were no immediate plans regarding Hazelwood. <\/p>\n

“The Government has been in contact with the mine’s owner Engie about this matter and I’m advised that no decision has been made,” Mr Noonan said. “Those discussions will continue. As the state’s new Resources Minister I look forward to meeting with the Latrobe Valley’s coal generators as well as local residents to discuss these issues.” reported the ABC.<\/p>\n

The French state is the largest shareholder in the French utility company, Engie, holding one third of the company shares. Kocher told the French Senate committee of it’s plans for a gradual withdrawal from coal-fired power generation in the coming years. <\/p>\n

As part of the lead up to the UN Climate conference in Paris, in October 2015 Engie announced a policy of no new coal investment<\/a>, but continued with existing dirty coal plants such as Hazelwood. Engie were one of the primary corporate sponsors of the COP21 climate conference.<\/p>\n

During 2016 the company has announced the sale of two coal plants in Indonesia and India this year, with the share of coal in its energy mix falling to about 10 percent from 15 percent.<\/p>\n

After staging the UN climate conference in Paris in December, the French Government under President Francois Hollande continues to maintain momentum for climate action. In April 2016 President Hollande announced that in 2017 it will set a carbon tax price for the electricity sector at \u20ac30 a tonne<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This move is a symbolic bid to stir European action to cut emissions and drive forward the Paris climate agreement. But the impact on France will be relatively small, as nearly 78 percent of electricity production is nuclear, 16 percent from renewable sources (12 percent hydro, 3 percent wind and 1 percent solar PV), and only 6% of electricity thermal power from coal and gas. But it seems the devil is in the detail. Gas producers are not subject to the carbon pricing and both Engie and Total have plans to expand gas production according to economist with Attac France Maxime Combes in an analysis published in M\u00e9diapart<\/a>(fr).<\/p>\n

Pressure is on Engie politically from above to transform it’s business model with regard to coal. It has started this transition with a new CEO appointed (Isabelle Kocher) and plans to transform it’s energy focus away from coal fired plant, to renewable energy technologies, smart grids and battery storage. In fact, Engie has just purchased an 80 percent stake in the Californian firm Green Charge Networks<\/a> marking entrance into the growing battery sector.<\/p>\n

An investigative story was broadcast May 24th on France 2 Television by the Program ‘Cash Investigation’ about French corporate investment in high polluting carbon assets including the Hazelwood power station and mine, and the Albertan tar sands. <\/p>\n

The Cash Investigation program does investigative journalism stories similar to the ABC’s 4 corners<\/em> program. <\/p>\n

This particular program, “Climat : le grand bluff des multinationales” (Climate: The multinational bluff), was filmed by Jean-Baptiste Renaud, and investigated the carbon investments of 3 large French Corporations: Engie, Total and LaFarge.<\/p>\n

\n

.@ENGIEgroup<\/a> exploite la centrale \u00e0 charbon la plus polluante du monde https:\/\/t.co\/guLbtXEUzD<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/t5IEVoMWb2<\/a><\/p>\n

— R\u00e9seau Action Climat (@RACFrance) May 24, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n