In Fos-sur-Mer, decarbonization with several unknowns

From the Château de l'Hauture, which overlooks the old medieval city between ponds and marshes, the ZIP stretches as far as the eye can see to the container port, a succession of chemical plants, refineries, blast furnaces, oil depots, chimneys, pylons, etc.

"Fos is 9.000 hectares, 7.500 of which are dedicated to industry," or more than 80% of the municipal territory, explains DVG mayor René Raimondi, 65, who, as a child, saw Camargue bulls and horses pass by the entrance to the village.

Sixty years after the installation of the first refinery, the area encompassing the Gulf of Fos and the neighboring Etang de Berre produces a quarter of France's industrial emissions, or more than 17 million tonnes of CO2/year.

"The last factory opened in 1987. Since then, nothing!" notes the mayor. "And three years ago, after the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, we started talking again about industrial sovereignty and energy transition, and these two concerns have come together in Fos."

In January 2023, Fos-sur-Mer was chosen by the government to become, along with Dunkirk, one of the country's first "low-carbon industrial zones." Projects are pouring in, attracted by the available land and prospects of public aid.

There are currently around thirty of them - renewable energies (photovoltaic, floating wind, green hydrogen, etc.), decarbonized steelworks, sustainable fuels, etc. The key is the promise of 10.000 direct jobs.

"Historic moment"

"Our strategy is to create the first European zone for decarbonization and reindustrialization," proclaimed the President of the Region, Renaud Muselier, at the end of February, on the occasion of the signing with the State and the Metropolis of a "roadmap for the industrial development of the Fos-Berre zone" by 2030.

"We are living in an extraordinary, historic moment!" enthuses Jean-Claude Chauvin, president of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry, estimating potential investments at "12 to 15 billion in new projects, and 3 to 5 billion for the transformation of existing industries."

This enthusiasm was met with caution at the Fos Trade Union Center. "The question we're asking ourselves isn't 'when', but 'will it ever really start?'" says Sandy Poletto, a CGT representative at ArcelorMittal.

Arcelor, the city's largest employer with 2.500 employees, suspended its decarbonization projects in Europe at the end of 2024, calling for support measures.

"Complex moment"

"The situation is complex; we have a lot of projects, and therefore a lot of uncertainty, and the geopolitical context only adds to it. But we can't say that decarbonization hasn't begun," says Nicolas Mat, secretary general of the Piicto association, which brings together industrialists and public stakeholders based in Fos in an industrial ecology approach.

"We're already seeing concrete results. We're talking about hundreds of millions of euros invested in recent years," he assures, citing improvements in energy efficiency, waste recovery, and shared infrastructure projects for CO2 capture.

However, all stakeholders admit that the bulk of decarbonization cannot be achieved without additional electricity to replace oil and coal.

Demand could double by 2030, driven by the transformation of fossil-dependent industries, the development of innovative sectors, particularly hydrogen, but also new everyday uses.

Planned for 2028, a very high voltage (VHV) line project crossing part of the Camargue continues to arouse strong opposition, despite a "lesser impact" route presented in September by RTE.

"There is an urgent need to make a decision," insists the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, "because with every delay, projects could go elsewhere!"

Other obstacles include the infrastructure that the ZIP, which is served by a single railway line and a single departmental road, sorely lacks: "We are the only port in Europe where you enter via a roundabout and a single road," notes Mr. Chauvin.

Financing transport infrastructure, estimated at 2 billion euros, and the creation of specific governance are at the heart of the concerns of the region's industrialists, who launched an appeal to the State in October.

A comprehensive public debate is expected in the spring, under the aegis of the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), on the issues and impacts of industrial projects and also the THT line.

"We need to accelerate," the CCI president repeats. "We need to move from projects to realization, from potential to real life!"