The administrative court of appeal of Bordeaux suspended on Friday the execution of the cancellation of the building permit granted to EDF for a power plant on the seaside in Larivot, near Cayenne,
new episode of the legal battle that is being played out around this project.
This building permit, issued in 2020 to the local subsidiary of EDF, which should allow the construction of a large power plant on the seafront, at a place called Larivot, in the town of Matoury, was cancelled on 18 July by the administrative court of Cayenne.
This 120 MW power plant project is the subject of an intense political and legal battle between environmentalists and EDF, supported by the government.
In its ruling, the Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal found that EDF had submitted to the public inquiry an environmental impact study “setting out and analyzing the various possible alternatives” for the construction of the plant.
The court also judged that the “site of the project is not part of the remarkable natural spaces of the coast and that the right-of-way of this project will not have an impact on the mangrove”.
On July 18, the Cayenne administrative court, seized by France Nature Environnement and Guyane Nature Environnement, cancelled the building permit for the power plant on the grounds that the impact study was inadequate and that the provisions of the town planning code relating to
remarkable spaces of the coastline.
Both of these grounds were rejected by the Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal.
“We are disappointed with the decision, but the litigation is not over. We are still waiting for the decisions on the merits whose hearings should take place in early 2023″, reacted with AFP Garance Lecocq, coordinator of Guyane Nature Environnement.
EDF Guyana welcomed this decision which represents “a step forward towards a resumption of work”, specifying that “the next step is the judgment on the merits”, said to AFP Gaëlle Paygambar, regional director EDF PEI (subsidiary of EDF) in charge of the project of the Larivot power plant.
The Larivot power plant must run on liquid biofuels, which would require the importation of large quantities of agrogasole and the construction of a 14-kilometer pipeline through the Communauté d’Agglomération du Centre Littoral (CACL) to transport them.
Guyana is regularly confronted with energy difficulties.
In August, it experienced a generalized blackout, re-launching the debate on the need for a new power plant, while the current EDF plant, which is outdated and polluting, has an operating permit extended until 2023.
For the past two weeks, numerous power cuts in the commune of Maripasoula, in western French Guyana, have led to clashes and the closure of several schools.
