[European Times, January 11, Wen Geng] France has recently suffered a rare cold snap. France has restarted the Émile-Huchet coal-fired power plant in Saint-Awold in the east due to the cold spell. In the current cold spell, two homeless people have frozen to death.
The head of the French energy regulator (CRE), Emmanuelle Wargon, told France Press Radio on the 10th that the Emile-Hechet coal-fired power plant was shut down in the spring of 2022 and temporarily restarted on Tuesday, the German news agency reported.
This is a deer photographed on January 9 in the Rambouillet Forest Park near Paris, France. (*Xinhua News Agency).
The plant is located in St. Awold, adjacent to Saarbrücken, Germany. France has two other coal-fired power plants as reserves. Valgon said that if France imports electricity from Germany, it could also be coal-fired power generation.
In addition to coal, the Emile-Hedget power plant also uses natural gas as fuel, but the individual blocks belong to different operators. In March 2022, the block using coal was closed. After the energy crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war, the coal-fired power plant resumed operation in the fall of 2022 for a limited time.
According to the operator, the start-up of the power plant takes only about 10 hours, which is flexible. It's unclear how long the system will run, but operators say it will run an average of 20 days per year.
Valgon said that last year France generated 01% comes from coal power. According to reports, the power plant was in operation for some time a year ago. In order to keep the power plant running, about 100 employees who were temporarily laid off were rehired and maintenance investments were made.
According to Valgon, the power plant will be converted to a biomass power plant by 2027. According to the radio station "France Bleu", tests of wood pellets are currently underway and will be expanded in January.
According to the French newspaper "Le Monde"10**, in the current cold wave, two homeless people have died in France. The two deceased, a man and a woman, were found on the 9th, the coldest day of the winter in France, on the outskirts of Paris and in Carpenterra in the south.
The cause of death of both will be further confirmed by autopsy. The man was found in a cellar in Boulogne-Billancourt, apparently taking refuge with the permission of his master. Another female deceased in Carpenterra died under a blanket on the street.
Due to the cold snap, many regions of France have reportedly activated contingency plans and provided additional accommodation for the homeless. In addition, on the streets of Paris, for example, volunteers move around to provide support to people at risk.
Editor: Li Yijin).