Biomass
At Albioma, we have harnessed our experience of energy recovery from bagasse to become a key partner of industrial sugar refiners, producing renewable energy in areas not connected to mainland power networks.
16
power
plant
889
MW
Total thermal power installed capacity
138
KWh
exported per tonne of sugar cane
Producing electricity and heat from bagasse
Supplying plants with bagasse in return for a supply of steam and electricity for sugar mills is a sustainable model that gives these refiners a decisive competitive edge. Similarly, the energy efficiency of Albioma’s plants enables us to sell the power we produce to electricity distributors, helping them cope with increasing consumption.
In France and Mauritius, during the sugar campaign which lasts between four and six months, the plants operate as cogeneration units, with bagasse as the main fuel. Between harvesting campaigns, they operate using a condensing process in the same way as conventional power plants, mainly from biomass. It can be used in a hybrid-combustion configuration to supply energy all year round at a competitive cost while complying with European and French atmospheric emissions standards.
In Brazil, the duration of sugar campaigns (nine or ten months) and the quantity of sugar cane processed by sugar mills enables the Group’s cogeneration facilities to operate using bagasse all year round (i.e. 11 months out of 12, with the remaining month set aside for annual maintenance).
Our goal is to replace coal with new forms of biomass
In keeping with the Climate plan and the objectives defined in France’s “Energy Transition for Green Growth” legislation, Albioma aims to phase out coal in favour of new forms of sustainable biomass in addition to bagasse. Work to convert our plants for all-biomass operation is already well underway in Overseas France. This will increase the share of renewable energy in the mix while considerably reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
The Group’s new plants are also designed to address the challenges associated with the energy transition: Galion 2, in Martinique, is the first all-bagasse/biomass power plant in Overseas France, and the combustion turbine in Saint-Pierre, Reunion Island, is the world’s first bioethanol-fuelled power plant.
Year-round energy source
Our unmatched expertise in hybrid combustion and cogeneration processes enables us to produce competitively-priced energy all year round, while complying with European atmospheric emissions standards.
