When he is not watching over his Bazadaises, which he is among the few to manage in Lot-et-Garonne, Fabien Constantin is never far from MethAlbret, the biogas production unit. The farmer, whose professional life previously led him to a position as a technician at the Chamber of Agriculture, is one of the leaders of this structure, which was put into service on January 17.
“We are eight partners. Seven farmers and the SEM Avergies. For many of us, this methanisation unit is above all a solution for managing our waste, which is recovered as green energy.” Slurry, horse manure, tomatoes, and plant cover form the bulk of the inputs of the site, built in Mézin, for an investment of 6 million euros.
7.6 GWh/year
The energy produced is resold to Gaz de Bordeaux, the supplier. The network and connection works were managed by GRDF, which assumed 40% of the cost. The remainder is the responsibility of the project leader, who welcomed elected officials from various local authorities to the site on September 17. In this gathering that came to learn about the process, a host of political leaders from Albret, the area where the biogas produced is consumed.
“This methanisation unit can recover around 20,000 tonnes of local organic matter each year and produces 80 m³/hour of green gas, equivalent to the consumption of 1,300 inhabitants. This represents 7.6 GWh/year, or around 10% of the gas consumed in Nérac, Barbaste and Lavardac. In an energy sector under high tension, increased by the geopolitical context, green gas, a local and renewable energy, is a mature response to the dual challenge of ecological transition and energy independence. Elected officials therefore have an important role to play,” underlines Régis Levadoux, from GRDF, who initiated this meeting. The network will soon be extended to supply the inhabitants of Mézin.
100% of needs covered this summer
Fabien Constantin, one of the structure’s leaders, and Régis Levadoux, from GRDF.
Ch. M.
“This summer, with the logical drop in consumption, the gas produced here was enough to cover 100% of the needs of the inhabitants of the Nérac area,” adds Fabien Constantin. Three other methane digesters inject green gas into the networks: Pouchiou Énergie in Astaffort, BioVilleneuvois in Villeneuve-sur-Lot and Geneste Biogaz in Villeréal. And five other units are planned in the department, which will have the potential to become an exporter in 2050.
The one in Mézin is perfectly integrated into the Mézin landscape where, according to the mayor Jacques Lambert, its construction and its small size have not raised the shields, as sometimes elsewhere. Another virtue of such a unit, in addition to its capacity to transform organic matter into energy: the production of fertilizer. “For 100 tons of materials, we recover 98 tons of digestate, which can be spread on the land to replace chemical fertilizers,” adds Fabien Constantin, who assures us: the collective of operators at the head of the methanizer is autonomous in terms of inputs.
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