3 Questions to Frédéric Flipo, Director and Founder of Evergaz
TF - What issues does Biogaz du Pays de Château-Gontier address?
FF - Biogaz du Pays de Château-Gontier is a methanization unit that truly responds to the challenges of its territory:
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How to make the best out of our organic waste? Biogaz du Pays de Château-Gontier is a solution for the treatment of organic waste of the territory, coming from agriculture, local communities and local food industries. It serves as an outlet for local waste.
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How to ensure the energy transition? The methanization unit allows the production of decentralized renewable energy, supplying electricity to the equivalent of 3,200 homes in the region.
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How to decarbonize mobility? Thanks to its CNG/BioGNV station, Biogaz du Pays de Château Gontier can supply green gas to gas-powered heavy goods vehicles, such as garbage trucks, trucks and school buses...
The Château-Gontier biogas plant is a concrete expression of the circular economy on a territory.
TF - How does Biogaz du Pays de Château-Gontier concretely address these issues?
FF - The biogas plant is intended to be a real solution for the treatment of local waste, by offering an ecological outlet to farmers, industrialists and local communities.
Every year, 35,000 tons of waste are collected from the region. This waste comes from local actors, such as farms, agri-food industries, or the territorial collectivity. The Château-Gontier site can process a range of 1,200 different types of waste, i.e. all the types of organic waste produced in the Château-Gontier area.
This waste is then recovered in 4 forms of energy, which makes the Biogas plant of Château-Gontier one of the most advanced sites in France:
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Produced by cogeneration, the green electricity is used to supply electricity to 3,200 homes.
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The green heat is used, via a heating network, by the production process of the Perreault cheese factory, located near the unit.
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Biomethane/green gas will also be produced and injected into the gas network as of September 2021.
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The CNG station in Château-Gontier sur Mayenne offers BioGNV, which is used to fuel the vehicles of Pays de Château-Gontier and the heavy goods vehicles of the Bréger transport company.
From these 4 processes comes the production of an organic and natural fertilizer: the digestate, which can be spread on agricultural land in substitution of chemical fertilizers. It therefore allows local farms to adopt sustainable practices and reduce their fertilization costs.
TF - What would be the ideal development scenario for Biogaz du Pays de Château-Gontier?
FF - The Pays de Château-Gontier Biogas plant is unique because it adresses the challenges and needs of local actors. However, it is an exemplary representation of what methanization is and what biogas can bring to the actors of the territories:
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Positive externalities of biogas: the plant offers a waste treatment solution to economic actors, provides a service to local farms thanks to the production of digestate, allows industrialists to decarbonize their activities (access of the Perreault cheese factory to green heat, BioGNV for transporters…).
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Close cooperation of public and private actors and commitment of elected officials in the development of biogas: we particularly salute the involvement of Mr. Philippe Henry, Vice-President of the Pays de la Loire region, in this local project, who supported the project and worked to dynamize the local economy.
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Taking the environment into account: the Château-Gontier plant has implemented innovative measures to protect the environment and reduce negative impact. To avoid bad smells, the liquid digestate storage lagoon is covered and the buildings where the material is incorporated have been equipped with biofilters. Evergaz has also taken measures to preserve flora and fauna, including the reconstruction of a wall to maintain the protected species of "wall lizards" on the site.
The Château-Gontier sur Mayenne site is a model of what can be done in terms of cooperation between public and private actors in the area, as well as environmental protection. It can inspire projects in other territories with similar issues.
Those 3 questions were written following the Transition Forum Call for Expressions of Interest. Biogaz du Pays de Château-Gontier is part of the top 20 selected projects.
