It is difficult to suspect Michel Peronnet, energy consultant, retired engineer whose professional record shows 39 years at the Autonomous Port of Marseille and 25 years at Lavéra (he was the first manager of Fluxel), of opposing the economic development of the territory. He says it himself: “I’m someone who defends the industry.”
Precisely, in the name of safeguarding the industry, he chose to get closer – without being a member – to the Stop THT 13-30 collective, which campaigns against the very high voltage (400,000 volts) overhead line project supported by Réseau Electricity of France (RTE) between Jonquières-Saint-Vincent, in Gard, and Fos-sur-Mer. The objective is to respond to the announced doubling of electricity consumption in the region by 2030, in the context, in particular, of the decarbonization of the industrial-port zone of Fos. For the engineer, “on an industrial level, this line is nonsense.”
An increase in electricity needs
Like the members of the collective, Michel Peronnet first questions the urgency of the timetable put forward by RTE and the estimates of real electricity needs in the region by 2030. “Doubling the consumption of the Paca region by 2030 will have to be explained to us. We would need 6 additional gigabytes, that's more than two nuclear power plants. It's impossible. But for 2040, 2045, we can 'hear.”
What about the needs of Zip, which says it is expecting the establishment of new factories that are particularly hungry for electrons in the near future? For Michel Peronnet, “many of these projects are not assured before 2035.”
Jean-Laurent Lucchesi, biologist and member of the collective, recalls for his part that in April 2024, the CEO of Total himself, Patrick Pouyanné, said he was very reserved about the rapid rise of green hydrogen – at the heart current prospects for the development of the Fos Zip. Another example: “ArcelorMittal has still not made a decision on its electric oven”points out Michel Peronnet. On September 27, 2024, the prefect himself requested, among the conditions for continuing the project, a reassessment of Zip's electricity needs in the years to come.
