The government presents its resilience plan without convincing construction professionals

Government announcements

In order to deal with the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Government has taken immediate steps to support the companies and sectors directly impacted and measures to strengthen France's energy resilience in the coming months. The stated goal is to get out of dependence on Russian gas and oil by 2027 at the latest.

Regarding gas supplies for next winter

• Secure the filling of gas stocks in the coming months.
• Strengthen the LNG import capacities of the 4 French LNG ports.
• Increase biogas production capacity.

New simplification measures on renewable energies will be put in place in the coming weeks in order to accelerate their deployment in the territories, for example the increased coverage from 40% to 60% of the connection costs for biogas installations, effective from this week.

Supply of petroleum products

European dependence on Russian oil being less than with gas, oil being easier to transport and France having strategic stocks of up to 90 days, the country has several months of autonomy in the event of a break in supply.

The reorganization of flows currently observed on a European scale may nevertheless locally induce logistical tensions, to which the Government is vigilant, particularly in the west of France.

Reduce demand for oil and natural gas, in order to limit French dependence

The Government has declared that it is putting in place tools adapted to each consumer who wishes to accelerate his energy transition and reduce his bill in the short term.

Short-term measures have already been announced:

• From this year, increase by 40% the intervention credits of the heat fund. These 150 million euros in additional resources will, for example, quickly support projects to convert heating networks to biomass, an effective way to reduce the demand for natural gas.
• Reinforce the MaPrimeRénov' system in order to accelerate the replacement of fossil fuel boilers with renewable heating solutions, such as heat pumps.

The Government has decided to increase by €1.000, from next April 15 and until the end of 2022, the MaPrimeRénov' aid granted for the installation of a virtuous heating system which makes it possible to get out of the gas or oil, such as heat pumps (including hybrids) or biomass boilers. And to no longer encourage households to remain dependent on gas, fixed prices for the installation of new gas boilers will be stopped at the same time.

By combining MaPrimeRénov' aid and energy saving certificates, it will be more advantageous for the most modest households to choose a heat pump or a biomass boiler and to do without gas.

• In early April, a call for France 2030 projects will be launched to accelerate the decarbonization of industry.

The Government wishes to target the companies most exposed to the rise in the price of hydrocarbons so that they accelerate their energy efficiency projects or the substitution of natural gas by biomass.

• An accelerated hydrocarbon exit plan has been launched for State buildings and its operators.

This action will be accompanied by the setting up of a fund which will finance work with a rapid impact on the reduction of gas and fuel oil consumption, in particular the replacement of fossil boilers with renewable solutions. For the sake of setting an example, the Prime Minister will also sign a circular in the coming days calling on all public services to reduce the heating temperature by 1°C in order to save energy and reduce the bill.

The dissatisfaction of professional organizations

The CNATP, the professional organization of Public Works and Landscape craftsmen, announced via a tweet that the measures of the Resilience Plan "do not correspond in any way to the emergency situation experienced" by the construction crafts sector . The CNATP has been blocked since Tuesday March 15 the oil depot in the port of Lorient in order to obtain a freeze on the internal tax on petroleum products (TIPP).

The FFB, the French Building Federation, announced in a press release that it was generally satisfied with the measures announced such as the revision of prices and the freezing of late payment penalties in public contracts, as well as the acceleration of the calculation of the BT indexes, which were measures expected by the sector or even the discount of 15 cents on fuel for 4 months and the deferral of tax and social charges.

On the other hand, the federation regrets "that the extension of the Loans guaranteed by the State (PGE) already signed was not retained, any more than the assumption of responsibility for the partial activity caused by a shortage of materials."

But the main criticism made of the announced Resilience Plan is the “almost immediate” abolition of the MaPrimeRénov’ device for all gas boilers. This measure is considered incomprehensible by the FFB, which fears a weakening of the sector and asks that this part of the Plan be reworked.

For Olivier Salleron, president of the FFB: “This plan is a first step and is intended to evolve, according to the words of the Prime Minister himself. Given the seriousness of the situation for the profession, the Federation will therefore continue to work daily with the government to relay the immediate difficulties of companies, strengthen action in favor of the building industry and will alert the public authorities in the event of a breach of solidarity. of sector. »