By the end of 2015, the French city of Auxerre (Yonne) will have a new ecological and economical wood boiler for its inhabitants. The City has signed a 24-year public service delegation contract with the Coriance group, a specialist in energy solutions. The boiler should eventually supply some 1500 homes.
A biomass boiler
For its new wood boiler, the municipality of Auxerre has chosen to exploit biomass energy composed of organic materials of plant origin. The wood, which is used in the form of chips, will be completely harvested from forests located less than 80 km from Auxerre. The boiler room should be stocked every day, even if the timber storage facility has a capacity corresponding to several days consumption. This should result in 14 full time jobs in the timber industry at zero cost to taxpayers.
€12.5 million investment
The Auxerre residents will be connected to the system in phases, starting from the end of 2015: first, the districts of Saint Genevieve and Brichères and those of Saint-Siméon. 1500 homes will be connected by the completion of the project. This represents a total consumption of 14,500 tons of wood and 48 000 MWh per year. Residents should see their energy bills drop by about 25% thanks to this equipment, which offers several promises:
– A reduction in consumption;
– A decrease in the overall air pollution;
– The exploitation of local resources for responsible heat production;
– Better quality heating;
– Improved comfort for clients …
To put this in place, the town of Auxerre has signed a 24 year contract with the company Coriance, one of the newest district heating operating companies. Coriance has both agreed to install the boiler and signed a DSP contract (public service delegation), for a total cost estimated at € 12.5 million (including a grant from ADEME – Agence De Environment and Energy Management – of approximately € 3.3 million). For the boiler installation, Auxerre has also decided to make use of French technology and has entrusted this task to Compte.R., A company whose head office is located in Auvergne, Arlanc.
The foundation stone to be laid in May
Work on Auxerre’s new heating network is progressing at pace: on May 7, Guy Perez, mayor of the city, and Myriam Normand, Regional Director of ADEME Bourgogne symbolically marked the start of work by laying the first stone. Excavation work began in December 2014 and lasted a month: the time needed to optimize 4000 m2 of land and to adapt the design and installation of the boiler to the constraints of the space set aside for its construction: on average, 90 10m3 truckloads of earth were removed every day!
Image source: Flickr (François Philipp)
