Production site in Bischwiller switches to low carbon heating.

 

In a step designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of its production site in Bischwiller (France) and reduce its dependence on natural gas, Hager Group has connected the site’s heating network to that of the Sonnenhof Protestant Foundation together with Strasbourg’s electricity board - ES Energy Services.

 

After six months of preparations and commitment from Hager Group, the Sonnenhof Protestant Foundation and ES Energy Services, the result is successful connection to the Foundation’s biomass heating system.

 

There are multiple objectives for the site:

- reducing carbon footprint and dependence on natural gas,

- pooling the energy network with local players and

- developing a circular economy.

The switch from natural gas to biomass will cut annual CO2 emissions by more than 300 tons.

 

The 500,000€ investment in the necessary infrastructure was supplemented by nearly 150,000€ in public aid, notably from ADEME. (Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie – an agency specialised in energy management).

In the long term, the site's current heating units, which mainly run on natural gas, will be dismantled and recycled.

 

The Bischwiller industrial site is the first of the group's 20 production sites to benefit from this type of investment. This approach is part of Hager Group's environmental strategy to reduce its industrial greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1 & 2) by 50% by 2030. By 2022, emissions from all the group's factories had been reduced by 6% compared to 2021.

What is biomass?

Biomass is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals.

It is used to produce electricity or heat through the combustion of organic matter.

 

How is it used at Bischwiller?

The biomass plant of the Protestant Sonnenhof Foundation supplies Hager Group with heat in the form of hot water. This is fed into two on-site substations. The heat is then converted into warm air and distributed to the heating system.

 

Local sourcing

The biomass boiler is fueled by forestry operations residues within a radius of 100 km - the Vosges mountains and the Black Forest.

The ash from the wood combustion is recovered in a local composting centre.