French biomass CHP units start up

French energy company Dalkia has started commissioning a 7.5MW unit at Angers in the northwest of the country, supplying electricity to the local grid and heat to around 18,000 homes and municipal buildings. The plant cost €38mn ($49mn) to build, with an additional €24mn spent on upgrading a pair of heating networks that serve the town. An unspecified part of the funding for the plant came from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB in December approved €100mn financing for five Dalkia projects, including Angers, which will cost a combined €239mn to build.

The Angers facility will run on around 90,000 t/yr of chipped forest waste, all of which must come from within 100km of the plant. French power distributor ERDF will sell Angers 50 GWh/yr of electricity production.

The unit was part of a third bidding round run by the CRE announced in 2011. French municipal utility UEM this month started up another unit that was part of the same round, at Metz in the north of the country. The €50mn, 9.5MW facility will supply 45 GWh/yr of electricity and heat to the city. The heating network has been rebuilt and extended to 100km from 73km. The plant will take 100,000 t/yr of feedstock in the form of chipped forest wood (68pc), waste wood (20pc) and sawmill waste (12pc).

French utility GDF Suez is starting construction of a 5MW CHP unit in the northern city of Amiens. It has received unspecified aid from Ademe as well as the European regional development fund to build a 5MW plant at a cost of €9.5mn. The unit will start up in November.

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