At a ceremony held on September 26 and attended by Xavier Bertrand, Member of the French Parliament for the Department of Aisne and Mayor of Saint-Quentin, GDF SUEZ subsidiary company Cofely Services officially opened the new biomass heating plant that is a key element in the city's ongoing energy transition.

For several years now, the City of Saint-Quentin has been developing sustainable development initiatives based on, and supported by, a strong culture of local commitment and resident awareness.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

To take this this commitment further, Cofely has developed a 50 GWh biomass heating plant with a capacity to supply 6,000 home equivalents. The 14 kilometer-long network that carries space heating and domestic hot water to social housing developments, public buildings, healthcare facilities and schools is a true urban sustainable development project.

The new plant also introduces a valuable new market for the local wood supply sector, which will provide 20,000 metric tons of fuelwood every year. Fuelwood is the term used to refer to all applications of wood as fuel, and its use will reduce overall CO2 emissions by 10,700 metric tons per year, which equates to 171,200 metric tons of CO2 over the 16 years of this contract (equivalent to the annual emissions of 6,000 cars). 

Biomass, the great majority of which is fuelwood, represents the largest source of conventional renewable energy in France. Its development is a crucial challenge if the country is to reach the tipping point of the energy transition and achieve the national renewable energy target of 23% by 2020. Biomass heating plants already deliver a good level of efficiency, and the constant flow of improvements is increasing the contribution they make to improving the energy performance of public amenities. Cofely Services operates 300 biomass heating plants in France as part of its commitment to generating safe, innovative renewable energy at local level.

distributed by