The Cordemais Power Station is a

thermal power station A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

in France. It has two coal-fired units with a capacity of 600 MW each. It previously had three oil-fired units; a 585 MW generating unit that was decommissioned in 1996 and two 700 MW generating unit decommissioned in 2017 and 2018 The station is in the western part of France at Cordemais in the department of

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...

. With an annual electricity production of 1.69 TWh in 2022 it is an important source of electricity supply for

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

represents 6% of the electricity production of the region. It has four chimneys, two of which at , are some of the

tallest structures in France An incomplete list of the tallest structures in France. The list contains all types of structures, may be incomplete and should be expanded. Overseas territories of France See also * List of tallest buildings in France * List of tallest buil ...

. It is fully owned by the French energy giant

Électricité de France Électricité de France SA (; ), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational corporation, multinational electric utility company owned by the government of France. Headquartered in Paris, with €139.7 billion in sales in 2023, EDF ope ...

. The station consumes between 1.3 and 2 million tonnes of coal per year. The coal, imported from South Africa, Poland, the United States and Australia, arrives at port facilities at

Montoir-de-Bretagne Montoir-de-Bretagne (, literally ''Montoir of Brittany''; Gallo: ''Montoér'' or ''Montouèrr'', ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population The population data given in the table below refer to the commune ...

and is conveyed to the power station by barge.

History

The Cordemais power station was commissioned in 1970 with a single oil-fired generating unit with a nameplate capacity of 585 MW. It was extended in 1976 with another two oil-fired units of 700 MW each, and in 1983 with one coal-fired unit of 600 MW. Its last expansion, another 600 MW coal-fired unit, was added in 1984. The station then functioned at a capacity of 3,185 MW until 1996, when the 1970s-built unit was decommissioned. In 2017 then in 2018, the other two oil-fired groups were decommissioned, resulting in its current capacity of 1,200 MW.

References

{{Reflist Coal-fired power stations in France 1970 establishments in France