Haute-Garonne: Airbus reduces its CO2 emissions thanks to a new biomass boiler room in Blagnac

Airbus is accelerating the reduction of the carbon footprint of its industrial activity on its sites in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) with the installation of a biomass boiler room in Blagnac, in the area of ​​the Jean-Luc Lagardère factory. This installation, designed and built in collaboration by Airbus and Engie Solutions, complements the existing installation in service since 2013, consisting of a steam biomass boiler with a power of 14 MW and producing 30 GWh per year.

The second installation, inaugurated this Thursday, October 3, 2024, with a power of 20 MW, will make it possible to replace a large part of the natural gas used until now with biomass production of 80 GWh per year, thus avoiding the emissions of 26,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year. The two biomass installations, with a total power of 34 MW, are connected and supply a 15 km internal heating network. More than 60 buildings, or 800,000 m² of offices and industrial premises, benefit from this renewable heat.

20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of wood consumed per year

“With this biomass boiler room, 86% of needs are covered by wood energy, which allows sustainable control of energy costs and a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions,” underlines Laurent Clément-Triaut, Facility Management manager. and energy strategy at Airbus. “This sustainable production complements the actions undertaken since 2015 as part of the energy performance contract, which has already made it possible to reduce the energy consumption of the sites concerned by almost 30%. »

The new Blagnac biomass boiler room, financed to the tune of 18 million euros by the European aircraft manufacturer and 9 million euros by Ademe, is supplied with forest chips and waste from the wood industry collected within a radius of less than 120 km around Toulouse. It is interconnected via an internal heating network. “Five days a week, it takes between ten and twelve trucks, each filled with 30 tonnes of wood chips, to supply the site,” explains Thibault Elias, Engie operations manager for the Airbus sites in Toulouse. “The boiler room will consume between 20,000 and 25,000 tonnes of wood per year. »