EDF - Our strategy

Biomass is the second leading renewable energy in EDF's generation mix.

Biomass accounts for 5% of EDF's electricity generation.

Residue combustion offers a particularly pertinent solution to the problem of waste management, whilst also enabling heat and electricity to be produced. Through our subsidiaries, EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN), Dalkia and TIRU, we are developing our biomass processes.

For example:

• the multi-stream waste treatment centre at Isseane was commissioned by TIRU. It includes a 50,000 tonnes recycling centre linked to an energy recovery unit of 460,000 tonnes. It supplies district heating for 182,000 inhabitants in the Paris region.
• EDF Energies Nouvelles has opted to develop biomass recycling projects harnessing residue and by-products from the agricultural industry. In Spain, the company operates a biomass power plant with a capacity of 26 MW in Lucena (Andalusia). Each year the plant processes 180,000 tonnes of residue from the local olive oil industry.

This is a major factor in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For example:

• using one tonne of wood prevents one tonne of fossil-based CO₂ being released into the atmosphere.
• for every 1 tonne of household waste treated by TIRU, 0.2 tonnes of oil is saved. Each year, by burning 4 million tonnes of waste, 2.2 million barrels of oil are saved.

Moreover, this production method generally produces only a small amount of ash and practically no sulphur. Finally, the CO₂ released by combustion of biomass in power plants is reabsorbed by plants for their growth (photosynthesis) and is thus incorporated into the natural cycle.

TIRU is constructing a methane terminal in Calais. It will cater for the electricity requirements of 11,000 homes (lighting and household appliances), producing 5,000 MWh/year.

EDF Energies Nouvelles has acquired an interest in the Belgian company, Verdesis, which specialises in the treatment and recycling of biogas from waste disposal sites and water purification plants.