Methanization has developed significantly throughout France with significant disparities depending on the region. To analyze these differences more precisely, we have divided France into 5 zones for which we devote specific articles: North-West, North-East, Center, South-West and South-East. This article takes stock of methanization in the Center of France.
The map below created by Methappro roughly shows the area analyzed, which includes:
- The Centre-Val-de-Loire
- The West of Burgundy Franche Comté
- North-East of New Aquitaine
- North-West of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
This map shows all the methane digesters in operation or planned in metropolitan France. The yellow markers are the injection sites (production of biomethane) and the blue markers are the cogeneration sites (production of electricity).
Compared to its neighbours further north, this area has far fewer methanisation units despite more recent development.
The proportion between cogeneration and injection units is roughly the same overall (50%).
In the Centre-Val-de-Loire region , agriculture plays an important role, but methanisation is still struggling to develop. There are fewer than 90 units (excluding treatment plants and boiler recovery), and just over ten projects.
This is due to the combination of several factors.
The difficulty of finding a plot of land that can be used for this purpose is one of them. In this region rich in cultural and natural heritage, methanization projects are often debated and subject to appeals from local residents.
Connections to natural gas networks, which are more or less existing depending on the area, can also be an obstacle despite significant implementation currently underway. Many projects are thus hoped to see the light of day in the coming years, with injection sites and projects being more numerous than those in cogeneration.
Moving down into the departments of the North-East of New Aquitaine , we find varying densities in the presence of methanization units. While departments such as Deux-Sèvres, Vienne or Haute-Vienne are starting to develop well (between 10 and 25 units in operation/projects per department), others remain timid. Charente and Corrèze, for example, currently have fewer than 5 sites each. Creuse has a few more sites but none in injection.
A little further east, in the north-western departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes , we feel a more present dynamic despite a number of sites that remains very limited if we compare them to departments in the North of France. Allier, Loire or Puy-de-Dôme, for example, each have around fifteen existing methanisation sites (including projects) – with a share of cogeneration sites slightly higher than that of injection sites.
Moving up the western departments of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté , disparities appear between the departments. Yonne and Côte d'Or, departments adjacent to the Grand Est, a pioneer in methanization, have invested in methanization sites at a rate of around fifteen sites each (with a large majority of cogeneration units). Just below, Nièvre and Saône-et-Loire have not followed the same dynamic: although several sites are planned or even already under construction, they currently only have around 5 each.
The Centre of France is therefore experiencing a relatively timid development of methanisation for the moment. Nevertheless, many sites are in the pipeline, and local policies are increasingly promoting methanisation through awareness campaigns and financial aid. The anti-waste law becoming stricter at the end of 2023 will increasingly push this type of structure to develop to promote local waste management. Watch this space!
Industrialists from the region or elsewhere, if you wish to revalue your biowaste through methanization, contact us: louis@methappro.fr
The figures in this article come from the Methappro database and may change depending on the criteria chosen and actual developments (new projects, unit sales, etc.).