It is a project defended for a long time by the employees which is starting to come to fruition. The public inquiry concerning the project to convert the EDF Cordemais power station (Loire-Atlantique) to wood started this Monday. Until October 27, the closing date of the survey, residents and groups are invited to give their opinions on the project known as “Ecocombust 2” carried out by the EDF group, manager of the plant, and Papreca French company specializing in recycling.
The objective is to “create a factory for manufacturing black pellets”, dark pellets of a size comparable to the pellets used in wood stoves, explains the public inquiry file. This black pellet factory would be created on the site of the power plant and should allow it to gradually replace the coal used to produce electricity.
Up to 160,000 tonnes per year
The famous pellets will be made from pieces of so-called class B wood, that is to say coming not from the forest but from decommissioned furniture or wooden elements from the building sector. Some 255,000 tonnes of wood waste can thus be received per year locally. This waste will be prepared (sorted, pre-crushed, partially stripped of stone and scrapped) on sorting platforms outside the site before being transported to the factory by truck. All residue will be removed. The material will be processed. The final stage, called granulation, will be carried out by four to five “pellet presses”. The black pellets will be stored in three silos with conical bottoms, enough to ensure approximately six days of storage. The future factory will be able to produce up to 160,000 tonnes per year.
“The project also includes the construction of a thermal treatment facility for non-hazardous waste (including a gaseous effluent treatment facility), and a liquid effluent treatment station,” adds the public inquiry file. The start of work is planned for 2024.
Among the authorities who have already issued an opinion, the regional environmental authority mission (MRAe) of Pays de la Loire expressed doubts about the factory’s ability to find enough class B wood to meet the factory’s needs without moving away from the Great West.
Only two left
Tests carried out in 2016 in Cordemais by EDF made it possible to verify the possibility of substituting pellets for coal, to verify that atmospheric emissions still complied with current regulations and that there was no significant degradation in performance. of the boiler.
Emmanuel Macron announced, during his first five-year term, his desire to close all coal-fired power plants for ecological reasons. The Head of State has reaffirmed in recent days that they will have to close before 2027. Only two are still affected: Cordemais and Saint-Avold (Moselle).
The Cordemais power plant employs nearly 350 employees and employs around 200 service providers.