The Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal on Tuesday validated the building permit issued by the State for the construction of a thermal power plant in Larivot, near Cayenne, the subject of an intense battle between environmentalists and EDF
This permit was canceled in July by the Guyana administrative court due to risk of flooding for the installation and attack on an area classified as a notable coastal area.
But the Bordeaux court, in turn, annulled this ruling, validating as in February the Guyana prefecture’s analysis, according to which there is no “satisfactory solution other than the one adopted for the establishment of the new thermal power plant.”
The administrative court of appeal of Bordeaux had also confirmed, in February, the environmental authorization of the plan.
Resumption of construction “as soon as the rainy season ends”
The Larivot power station, in the city of Matoury, will replace the old Degrad-des-Cannes oil power station and will run on liquid biofuels, which would require the construction of a 14-kilometre pipeline to transport them.
A building permit for a large seaside power plant had been granted in October 2020 by the local prefect, as Guyana’s electricity supply is fragile.
The project “does not take advantage of Guyana’s resources but instead imports polluting fuels,” denounced Garance Lecocq, coordinator of Guyane Nature Environnement, the complainant association, in the file.
In a press release on Tuesday, the EDF subsidiary in charge of the site, EDF-PEI, said construction of the plant would resume “as soon as the rainy season ends.”
On the opponents’ side, a “cassation appeal before the Council of State will be the subject of discussion in the coming days”, explained Garance Lecocq, both on the environmental authorization and on the works permit.
Source: BFM TV
