Icon News Ecological transition: SUEZ storage centre in Saint-Maximin (Oise, France) now produces biomethane using the WAGABOX® innovative technology

This new technology, officially launched in Saint-Maximin (Oise, France) today, will optimise the waste's energy potential and enable SUEZ to become France's leading producer of biomethane and the operator managing the largest number of biomethane plants in France.

Philippe Maillard ,Senior Executive VP Recycling & Recovery Europe and CEO R&R France

Recovery of biogas from waste storage facilities is a key factor in managing waste and preserving resources. In France, currently only 60% of the biogas produced in these facilities is recovered as electricity or heat. The technology developed by WAGA ENERGY and deployed at the Saint-Maximin plant meet this challenge by recovering biogas even more efficiently than the usual process. From June 2017, 20 GWh of biomethane will be injected into the network every year, equivalent to the gas requirement of 3,000 households.

Recovery of biogas from waste storage facilities is a key factor in managing waste and preserving resources. In France, currently only 60% of the biogas produced in these facilities is recovered as electricity or heat. The technology developed by WAGA ENERGY and deployed at the Saint-Maximin plant meet this challenge by recovering biogas even more efficiently than the usual process. From June 2017, 20 GWh of biomethane will be injected into the network every year, equivalent to the gas requirement of 3,000 households.

After ten years in development, the WAGABOX®, supported by the 'Investissements d'Avenir' (investment for the future) programme, is the first industrial unit capable of extracting biomethane from the mixture of gases produced by decomposing waste which is full of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen and impurities. Following a purification step, the biogas converted into biomethane, which is almost identical to natural gas, can be injected into the GRDF distribution network.

Mathieu Lefebvre, CEO of WAGA ENERGY, said, 'By applying the WAGABOX disruptive technology, SUEZ will be able to recover 90% of the biogas produced from waste as 98% pure biomethane, which will be injected directly into the natural gas distribution network. The launch of the WAGABOX, only twelve months after the contract was signed, proves our capacity to manage complex industrial projects for operators of non-hazardous waste storage facilities within short-time frames.'

The innovative and ambitious project of Saint-Maximin prompted ADEME, France's Environment and Energy Management Agency, to provide technical support and €438,920 in funding from its special heat fund.

The launch of this facility with WAGA ENERGY helps meet targets laid out in the French law on energy transition for green growth and is in line with SUEZ's strategy to increase biogas production by 30% to 50% within the next five years.

In France, SUEZ recovers almost 5 million tonnes of waste as 100% renewable energy, to meet the heat requirements of 430,000 inhabitants and the electricity consumption of 580,000 inhabitants. In Europe, SUEZ will recover this year more than 9 million tonnes of waste in renewable energy, to meet the heat requirements, will sell 7 TWh of energy which is the equivalent of the annual consumption of a city with 2 million inhabitants, such as Vienna or Hamburg, thus avoiding more than 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.