As of this year, the outside companies that control the production and sale of electricity on Reunion Island are communicating on the “greening” of their production. As a result of the European Union’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fossil-fired power plants are now prohibited. On La Reunion Island, coal and fuel oil were the main sources of primary energy for EDF and Albioma power plants.
This deadline had been largely anticipated by the Région Réunion, led by Paul Vergès. In 1998, the then President of the Region launched the slogan of energy autonomy by 2025, followed by the tools to implement it.

The sabotage of energy autonomy planned for 2025

The PRERURE set out the energy program to replace the 80% imported energy mix with La Réunion’s own renewable energies. The ARER (Agence régionale de l’énergie Réunion) was tasked with federating the players involved and carrying out experiments.
On La Reunion Island, sun, wind and sea energy are abundant. This meant that, given the right resources, our island would be free of energy imports by next year. This strategy was also based on the electrification of modes of transport around an electric tram-train linking the most densely populated areas. The construction of solar power plants along the Route des Tamarins was intended to provide the energy needed to transition the car fleet from thermal to electric power. In 25 years, the realization of such a project was realistic.
The arrival of Didier Robert as President of the Region in 2010 called into question more than 10 years of progress. The fossil fuel lobby could rest easy. No longer a leader, La Réunion is now in the rearguard.
But when the obligation to end the use of coal and fuel arrived, the solution chosen was to maintain the existing structure: large power plants fuelled by imported primary energy, the price of which is not set by the Reunionese.

The old, protected production structure

This meant that a production structure designed in the last century was not called into question. Imported energies have replaced other imported energies. As a result, imported biomass maintains La Réunion Island’s energy dependence.
On the contrary, the abundance of renewable energies on La Réunion Island enables production to be decentralized. Solar energy enables the creation of small production cooperatives on the scale of a building, or even a neighborhood. In the Hauts region, the biomass provided by sugarcane can be used for heating or electricity production in micro-power stations.
But these forward-looking initiatives are unable to develop on a large scale due to the dominance of imported biomass.
With its evocative front page last week, Le Quotidien reminds us of what Témoignages has been writing since the “greening” of EDF and Albioma power plants was announced: it’s the tree that hides the forest. These so-called renewable energies are not really renewable, and they contribute to keeping our country dependent on imports for energy. La Reunion has the means to produce all the energy it consumes, but this calls into question interests that are not those of the Reunionese.

M.M.