TotalEnergies has commissioned BioNorrois in Fontaine-le-Dun (Normandy), its eighth biomethane production unit in France – raising its biogas production capacity in the country to more than 800 GWh.
It will inject 153 GWh of biomethane per year into the natural gas transport network operated by GRTgaz, equivalent to the average annual gas consumption of more than 30,000 inhabitants.
The French sugar group Cristal Union, partner in the project and 10% shareholder, will provide beet pulp, residues from its adjacent production site, to the biomethane plant, which will represent up to 80% of the 185,000 tons of organic materials used.
The 150,000 tonnes of digestate produced annually by the unit will be fully utilised by Cristal Union and the Norman cooperative NatUp with partner farms, to support them in their transition to the use of sustainable and locally produced fertilisers. This new territorial installation will save more than 5,500 tonnes of chemical fertilisers each year and avoid emitting 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The development of BioNorrois is the result of consultation with all local stakeholders, including more than 130 farmers and agri-food industries as well as administrations and officials.
Karine Boissy-Rousseau, Vice-President Green Gases at TotalEnergies, said the new anaerobic digestion unit is comparable in size to BioBéarn, its largest production site in France.
“With Cristal Union, we are partnering long-term with a robust, internationally recognised partner committed to sustainable growth of its activities. With this new biogas project, TotalEnergies continues to contribute to the promotion of a circular economy with multiple local benefits, the production of renewable energies, and the decarbonisation of the French energy mix,” she said.
Xavier Astolfi, General Manager of Cristal Union, said unlike many industries, it has an asset: the ability to valorise the residues of its production, beet pulp, and industrial effluents, and reuse them to produce energy through anaerobic digestion or combustion.
“This partnership with TotalEnergies is a full-scale project for the treatment of pulp. Beyond the production of biogas from our production residues, it will allow us to provide our partner farmers with digestate to spread on their fields. A true circular economy project,” he said.
Earlier this month, Clemessy installed a biomethane injection station for gas transmission operator NaTran at Fontaine-le-Dun in order to connect BioNorrois to the network.
Read more: Clemessy builds biomethane injection stations to support NaTran
