Launch construction of the industrial Ch0C pilot

• 16 partners launch construction of the industrial Ch0C pilot;
• Winner of the France 2030 DEMIBaC call for projects – development of technological building blocks and pilots – creation of first industrials combining supply and demand –;
• Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has allocated €1.2 million to the project of the €2.9 million that it requires.

In a letter sent to several members of the consortium this summer, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the high quality of the project previously examined by the ADEME. She also emphasised that the pilot is "fully in line with France’s targets to reduce its emissions by 2030, and the strategy of speeding up decarbonisation of industry set by its national low-carbon strategy”.

The boiler will be designed and built at the Babcock Wanson plant in Nérac (Lot-et-Garonne). Fives will design and supply the Pillard® combustion system integrated into the boiler.

In early 2024, the 3 MW boiler and the CO₂ capture / liquefaction system built by VERDEMOBIL BIOGAZ will be delivered to the Villers-Saint-Paul (Oise) industrial site operated by ENGIE Solutions. This is where the pilot will be tested. Naldeo Technologies & Industries will coordinate the project’s engineering throughout its duration. The Ch0C boiler could go on sale starting in 2025. Replacing 1000 industrial boilers with this new one could prevent 4 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year¹.

¹ Assumptions adopted: 1000 3 MW gas boilers operating 7000 hours per year: associated gas consumption: 21 TWh (billions of kWh); 90% reduction in direct CO2 emissions resulting from this consumption compared with a traditional gas boiler.

What is innovative about the Ch0C boiler is the fact that it uses oxygen instead of air during the combustion process: this is what is known as oxycombustion. In addition to improving the boiler's performance, the process concentrates the CO₂ produced with a view to capturing and then making use of it. The boiler, used in conjunction with the CO₂ capture and liquefaction system, could reduce the direct CO₂ emissionss² generated by industrial boilers to produce steam and hot water by more than 90%. In so doing, it would meet the stringent requirements currently weighing on manufacturers in terms of decarbonisation. A technology that is being closely monitored by manufacturers in the paper / cardboard, chemicals and agri-foods sectors.

² The emissions taken into account are direct emissions (scope 1).

The consortium, run by Naldeo Technologies & Industries, is made up of energy specialists, equipment builders, scientific experts and manufacturers. Babcock Wanson, ENGIE Solutions, Fives, GRDF, GRTgaz, TotalEnergies, VERDEMOBIL BIOGAZ are partner members involved in the project. Agrial, Agro mousquetaires, Bonduelle, Carboneo, Coca-Cola, Constellium, Eiffage Énergie Systèmes and the University of Paris are observer members.