Verallia France plans to develop a plant to produce syngas for use in the production process at its Cognac glass manufacturing facility.
It aims to substitute syngas for some of the fossil energy it uses in its production and enrich it to adapt it to the specific technical features of its manufacturing process.
To achieve this, Verallia France has signed a memorandum of understanding with Charwood Energy for the development of a syngas production plant with a capacity of over 3MWth at its Cognac site.
The conclusion of this development phase should lead to the signature of a direct purchase contract to supply this site with syngas.
The plant will comprise a biomass reception and preparation unit, an oxygen production unit, a syngas production line, syngas storage, a thermal energy network, a syngas distribution network and a biochar packaging line.
The syngas enrichment tests will take place at Charwood Energy’s R&D centre in Colpo, Brittany, using a dedicated pilot gasifier.
Ifdevelopment is successful, construction of the plant is scheduled to start in April 2024, with commissioning in summer 2025.
Verallia uses natural gas to manufacture its glass products (melting at around 1,550°C), operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Syngas is a renewable gas generated by the pyrogasification of biomass.
Philippe Coltat Gran, Director of the Cognac site, said: “In line with the Group’s CSR strategy, our site is pioneering the development of alternative energy sources to reduce its environmental footprint.
“The solution for producing syngas, a renewable energy, proposed by Charwood Energy, fits in perfectly with this approach, and we are convinced of the long-term benefits that installing a syngas plant on our site could bring.
“This plant, which will complement the electric furnace due to come on stream in 2024, illustrates our determination to make Cognac a committed site.”
Greg Morris, Glass International Editor
Greg Morris
