|
The largest energy from waste plant in France has been unveiled
in Western Paris, on the banks of the Seine.
Waste disposal authority SYCTOM, which represents the Western
suburbs of Paris and neighbouring towns, has built the facility
at Issy-les Moulineaux to treat 460,000 tonnes of residual
waste a year, alongside a recycling facility for 50,000 tonnes.
The €580 million plant is operated by a consortium called
TSI - which is lead by French renewable energy firm TIRU
Groupe. Waste firm SITA is the other partner and
takes control of the recycling facility.
The energy from waste plant uses a twin-stream moving grate
system manufactured by Swiss firm Von Roll to burn
over 30 tonnes of waste an hour. This produces steam which
is fed into a 52MW turbine to generate electricity and is
also used to provide district heating for buildings including
the Musée D'Orsay.
The plant - called ISSÉANE - came online in
December 2007 and was unveiled this month. A spokeswoman
for Tiru explained - "ISSÉANE is already an essential
contributor to the production of renewable energy in the Paris
region. More than 182,000 inhabitants rely on it for their
district heating every year."
In order to fit in with its surroundings, two-thirds of the
ISSÉANE facility is constructed underground - which,
the company claims, has played a "crucial role"
in its acceptance by residents.
The facility has also been given a green roof and wooden
cladding - together with small chimneys - making it stand
out from the energy from waste plant it has replaced, which
still stands 500 metres away.
All of the communities which the facility serves are within
a 10km radius of the sites, which helps to limit transportation
to the site and, therefore, its carbon footprint.
The spokeswoman added - "The building itself begins
31 metres (or six storeys) below ground level and all traffic
movement associated with waste deliveries takes place underground.
The site's twin chimneys protrude no further than 5 metres
above the green roofline, minimising visual impact."
Inside the facility, refuse collection vehicles deliver their
waste in one of seven bays, from which it drops into a huge
waste hall with an aspiration system to limit odour. Here
the waste is picked up by two grabber cranes which load it
into two hoppers - which, in turn, feed the boiler.
Combustion gases from the process are treated by an electrostatic
precipitator which recovers more than 99% of the particles
contained in them, according to the company. Flue gases are
also treated to remove pollutants.
Bottom ash produced in the process is taken away on barges
for re-use in aggregates. Scrap metal is recycled and fly
ash is sent for hazardous waste disposal.
Bart Fourment, UK liaison for Tiru, estimated that the gate
fee for the facility was about €85 a tonne, inclusive
of energy sales and residue disposal costs. He explained that
Tiru charged €30 a tonne - which fell to €17
if energy revenue was taken away - and added - "This
is incredibly cheap due to size factors, the sale of the steam
and other factors."
|
