The administrative court of French Guiana canceled this Monday the building permit granted in 2020 to EDF for the construction of a power plant by the sea in Larivot, near Cayenne, a new episode in the intense legal battle that is being waged around this project.
This 120 MW project, planned to replace the current dilapidated, polluting power plant authorized to operate until 2023, is tearing apart environmentalists and EDF, supported by the government.
Referred by the associations France Nature Environnement and Guyane Nature Environnement, the administrative court of Guyana considered that the construction permit did not take into account “the provisions of the urban planning code” relating to “remarkable places or landscapes or characteristics of the natural and cultural heritage of the coastline”.
The court also considered the environmental impact study carried out by EDF to be insufficient.
Second setback for EDF
Contacted by AFP, the regional director in charge of the project, Gaëlle Paygambar, announced that the group “will appeal” against this decision.
In April, the administrative court of Guyana had already canceled the prefectural authorization granted to EDF for the construction of the site.
The State and EDF have appealed this decision, which is now in the hands of the Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal.
The Larivot plant must run on liquid biofuels, which would require the importation of large quantities of biofuels and the construction of a 14-kilometre pipeline through the urban community of the coastal center (CACL) to transport them.
Source: BFM TV
