Green power line attracts protests from French environmentalists
Row over high-voltage electricity line set to link green projects in Fos-sur-Mer
The power lines are proving controversial
Brian McCulloch
Plans for a 65km long 400,000 volt electricity line to take power from nuclear power stations in the Rhône Valley to the industrial site at Fos-sur-Mer just outside Marseille has attracted opposition.
The new line is needed because new factories devoted to green industrial projects, including a plant to make hydrogen gas and another one to make solar panels, are planned for Fos-sur-Mer.
The government body which runs high-voltage lines, Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE), insists that overhead lines, where 50-60m high pylons carry up to 20 separate cables, are the only way to get the extra electricity to the site.
Opponents dispute this, saying buried cables, or even underwater cables such as the ones under the English channel are better because they are at less at risk from storms.
Pressure groups against the €300 million project have formed along each of the proposed routes for the pylons, some of which go through protected nature reserves.
An overarching organisation, called Stop THT 13000, has 24 of the groups as members and posters against the line have appeared along many of the roads in the region.
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Heavy industry
Fos-sur-Mer has long been identified as the industrial site which puts out more carbon dioxide than any other in France because of the large oil refinery and steel works located there.
Opponents of the line question whether existing industry has done much to cut emissions and argue that if they did, there will not be the need for the new line, which RTE hopes will open in 2027.
Among the opponents is Patrick de Carolis, who was a high profile radio and TV reporter in France before retiring and being elected mayor of Arles in Bouche-du-Rhone department.
He argued that the new line goes against a long-established strategy for the region, where industry is concentrated at Fos-sur-Mer and balanced by agriculture, artisan industries, wine and tourism in other areas.
Supporters of the project, including the union CGT, accuse the opponents of hypocrisy and pushing for green industry up to the moment it impinges on their view.
