The renewable energy producer Albioma knows this well. Replacing coal with wood pellets imported from the other side of the world in its two thermal power plants at Bois Rouge (100 MW) in the north of the island and Le Gol (110 MW) in the south-east is not an ideal solution. Even if five months a year, it is bagasse, the residue of sugar cane, from local sugar factories, which takes over.
Certainly, wood pellets reduce CO2 emissions by 84%, compared to coal, according to a Deloitte study. And they allow EDF to claim that Réunion will be the first French territory to be 100% renewable energy by the end of 2024. The national operator also converted its local thermal power plant in Port-Est from fuel oil to liquid biomass, or rapeseed biofuel, in 2023. The rest of the electricity consumed on the island is supplied by hydraulic dams, onshore wind and solar. But that’s without taking into account imported emissions. In the calculation of emissions from imported biomass, a quarter is due to transport, compared to 2% for coal.
A unit dedicated to the Bois-Rouge power station
Albioma is therefore seeking to reduce this share.Since its conversion in November 2022, the Bois-Rouge power plant has been supplied with a large third of pellets from North America, a small third from Europe and a third from the Indo-Pacific basin.“, explains Pascal Langeron, Deputy General Manager for the La Réunion – Mayotte area of Albioma. To support its exit from coal, Albioma had acquired a pellet production unit in Canada. It is ultimately intended to supply Albioma’s power plants in the Caribbean. It has just acquired a second in Australia. “It takes 26 days by sea to bring pellets from Canada to Reunion, compared to 16 days from Australia.», argumente Pascal Langeron. «And we are also looking at southern Africa.“, which is a good lead. Albioma would also look at South-East Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Vietnam. All that remains is to find pellets there that comply with the new European RED III regulations!
When it announced the conversion of Reunion Island’s coal-bagasse power plants to biomass, Albioma also committed to sourcing some of its biomass locally. At the Bois-Rouge power plant, a dedicated unit with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year was built and commissioned in November 2023. In April 2024, it received its first batch of acacia chips from a land clearing programme, leaving a heady aroma in the large green building. A unit with the same capacity is planned for the Le Gol power plant. But for the time being, Albioma has no certainty of being able to supply them. Energy crops, particularly sugarcane, are not really an option on the island. The 2018 local biomass plan estimated the available potential at 100,000 tonnes per year, excluding bagasse, but the figures have since been revised significantly downwards.Because green waste has to be left on the ground, the potential has been reassessed from 45,000 tonnes to 7,000 tonnes.“, explains Benjamin Cousin, the local biomass supply manager for Albioma in Reunion. And while the 10,000 tonnes of packaging wood should be found, the 10,000 tonnes of forest wood was also a “very optimistic” figure, according to Benjamin Cousin. Not to mention the 25,000 tonnes of pruning wood, which has very little chance of being used as wood energy, as the demand for BRF (branch wood chips) to improve crops is also increasing on the island. Especially since food sovereignty is one of the Region’s priorities…
Providing an outlet for a wood interprofessional organization
Above all, there is no sector to exploit this potential. On the island, the wood industry is “scumming”, observes Benjamin Cousin. There are only three sawmills in Reunion. And the few forest operators (four or five) are under-equipped. So, with the ONF, Inrae, Cirad, Fibois France and Albioma, the Region launched the Giroflée program in April (Innovative Management of Forest Resources for Sustainable Energy). It aims to create an inter-professional wood organization on the island to collect and recycle wood packaging shreds, green waste, forest chips, from cryptomeria and acacia, two invasive species that thrive on the island. To develop it, “CIRAD has started to divide up technical itineraries“, says Benjamin Cousin. A study, co-financed by Ademe, was commissioned from the French Agroforestry Association (AFaf) on the potential of this new agricultural practice on the island. It is due to submit its report in January 2025.
For its part, Albioma is committed to purchasing all available biomass energy. “If we start from 100,000 tonnes, we are able to pay the sector between 60 and 80 euros per tonne of biomass, or 8 million euros returnable per year to the community.“, says Pascal Langeron. Which, he hopes, will inspire vocations.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
