France Scrapping Coal Export Credits

The French government is to scrap export credits used for coal technology made by turbine maker Alstom, Environment Minister Segolene Royal said on Thursday.

President Francois Hollande pledged last year to eliminate coal export credits, and his staff said earlier this week that the situation would be clarified before Paris hosts an international climate change conference at the end of the year.

"The president has been very clear, the aid for Alstom will be scrapped," Royal said on France Info radio.

"What I've offered ... to Alstom is that the state aid that had been granted for coal should be used to invest in renewable energy," she said.

Alstom got the green light from EU competition authorities on Tuesday to sell its power business to General Electric after agreeing to sell some of the French company's turbine assets to Italian rival Ansaldo Energia. (Reporting by Chine Labbe