- Local authorities
Idex supports Cattenom in its energy transition
In north-eastern France, Cattenom has decided to heat its municipal buildings with local, renewable fuelwood. To achieve this, it is working with industry leader Idex.
The municipality is accelerating its energy transition by using a local renewable energy source: fuelwood. As part of a public service contract, Idex was asked to design, build and operate the heating network over a period of 24 years.
On Thursday 12 May 2022, after one year of work, Cattenom opened the new boiler plant for its heating network as part of a ceremony attended by Bernard Zenner, Mayor of Cattenom, and Benjamin Fremaux, CEO of Idex. Idex is in charge of operating and maintaining this 1.5 km network serving 22 substations, for the next 24 years.
99% of fuelwood
The network is now supplied by a wood-fired plant with a capacity of 2 MW. The plant is supplied annually with 1,100 tonnes of wood (sawmill wood, waste wood and wood chips) from local partners located within a 90 km radius of the boiler plant.
This renewable energy is able to meet a full 99% of the heating and domestic hot water needs of network subscribers. Owing to its proximity to a nuclear power plant, Cattenom has an 800 kW oil-fired boiler as back-up rather than a gas-fired network.
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The plant supplies 23 buildings owned by Cattenom and other local municipalities, along with a secondary school and a few private homes. This new heating network saves 400 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, compared with a heating network running solely on gas.
Limiting and recovering pollutants
The pollutants released into the air will be limited by a double filtering system: a multicyclone filter traps the largest particles and any that are still incandescent, while an electrofilter further reduces the quantity of particles released. The ashes are processed and then distributed to local farmers for spreading on the land, in order to fertilise the soil.
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« Idex made a proposal that effectively supports Cattenom in its project, from design to commissioning and operation.. Idex is a partner delivering a high level of service throughout the contract. As a player in the development of renewable energies, we are attentive and fully transparent in our dealings with the delegating authority.».
Benjamin Fremaux, CEO of Idex
« It gives us great pride to open our town's new boiler plant. The choice of a local, renewable energy source is fully in line with the increased sustainability expected by local residents. This is another major step towards the greening of Cattenom».
Bernard Zenner, Mayor of Cattenom
