Clemessy has installed a biomethane injection station for gas transmission operator NaTran at Fontaine-le-Dun in northern France, in order to connect TotalEnergies’ new biomethane production site at BioNorrois to the network.
TotalEnergies Green Gases and LNG has built an anaerobic digestion plant in Fontaine-le-Dun (76), which recovers beet pulp from the Cristal Union agro-industrial cooperative by mixing 50% of it with other inputs (slurry, agricultural and agri-food waste) from neighbouring farms. A 15-year deal was signed in February 2024.
© Clemessy
Eventually, the biomethane produced by BioNorrois should cover the annual energy needs of 30,000 inhabitants (150 GWh PCS of biomethane/year). During the first phase of the digester’s operations, biomethane production is expected to reach almost 100 GWh/year.
Pierre Michelet, Gas Sales Manager, said the control containers pilot the compressors used to reinject excess gas from the distribution zones (mainly the GRDF network) into the NaTran transmission network.
“They also contain gas analysers and transactional meters developed by our teams, and require electrical, automation and instrumentation skills similar to those we developed for the injection stations,” he said.
“Biomethane production is virtuous in more ways than one. Firstly, it is fully in keeping with the energy transition and low-carbon objectives. Secondly, it reduces Europe’s dependence on gas from other countries, including Russia. Finally, it promotes the circular economy by creating local jobs, reusing a material available nearby and producing digestate (or green manure) which is reused directly in the sector.”
Nowadays 11 million people have a gas boiler connected to the distribution network, and natural gas is also used in many industrial processes.
Yet despite all the energy-saving measures, half the gas we consume today will still be consumed in 2050. In other words, consumption will fall from 417 TWh (at present) to 250 TWh by 2050, in the most energy-efficient scenario.
Natural gas (methane) is an essential component of the French energy mix, and is often equated with fossil fuels, because it is extracted from the subsoil and its combustion releases CO2.
The gas industry’s strategy is to use all available inputs (biomass) to produce biogas, including material from energy crops (CIVE), which are used to enrich the soil between two food crops (such as corn). Collective urban composters are another source of inputs, as is waste from the agri-food industry.
The industry aims to increase its production of renewable gases fivefold (all processes combined) by 2030, equivalent to 20% of total current consumption, and to achieve 100% renewable gas by 2050.
BioNorrois in figures (for a maximum capacity of 153 GWh/year)
- 185,000 tonnes of organic waste recycled each year
- 150,000 cbm of digestate produced each year
- 5,500 tonnes of chemical fertiliser avoided each year
- 30,600 tonnes of CO2 prevented each year
