The Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux validated Tuesday the environmental authorization granted by the State for the establishment of a thermal power plant in Larivot, near Cayenne, the subject of an intense battle between ecologists and EDF. In October 2020, the prefect of Guyana had issued an environmental authorization for the construction of a large power plant by the sea while the electricity supply of this overseas territory is fragile.
The Larivot power station, in the commune of Matoury, must run on liquid biofuels, which requires the import of large quantities of agrofuel and the construction of a 14 kilometer pipeline to transport them. A project “expensive, useless and dangerous for the environment”, accuse environmental associations who have taken the case to court.
The environmental authorization had been canceled by the administrative court of Cayenne in April 2022, on the grounds that the administration did not justify the absence of satisfactory alternative solutions to the chosen site.
A resumption of construction “as soon as the rainy season ends”
The Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux canceled this judgment on Tuesday. In its judgment, “it validates the analysis of the prefect of Guyana who had considered that there was no satisfactory solution other than that adopted for the establishment of the new thermal power plant and does not uphold any of the other criticisms formulated against the prefectural decree”, according to a press release from this jurisdiction.
This decision “opens the way to a resumption of the construction site of the power plant at the end of the rainy season”, reacted in a press release EDF-PEI, the subsidiary of the energy company which carries the project.
“This project will be the largest project entrusted to local Guyanese companies. With the future Larivot power plant, EDF PEI is firmly committed to the energy transition of French Guiana and is helping to achieve a 100% renewable energy electricity mix (renewable energies) by 2030,” says the operator. For opponents of the project, however, the battle is not over: a new hearing should take place on March 7, this time concerning the building permit.