SMEDAR has renewed its contract with Veolia, following a competitive tender process, to operate the VESTA waste-to-energy plant under a six-and-a-half-year contract worth €116m.
Image: The electricity by the facility is sold to the French electricity grid. Photo courtesy of Veolia.
The strong points of this new contract: optimized operation of the facility and the provision of supervisory systems to SMEDAR to manage this facility which is now an integral part of the region’s energy mix.
Recover the city’s waste to produce energy from a renewable source
VESTA can handle and recover up to 325,000 metric tons of household and assimilated waste collected from across the region. Treated in three furnace lines at a very high temperature (1000 °C), the waste generates up to 180 GWh/year of electricity of which 125 GWh/year – the equivalent of the city of Rouen’s consumption – is sold to the French electricity grid.
The facility also produces 85 GWh/year of thermal energy that is delivered in the form of heat to the city’s Vésuve district heating network. Prompted by environmental regulations that encourage improved energy performance and guarantee environmental protection by controlling the atmospheric discharge from facilities, the VESTA energy recovery facility plays a growing role in managing the region’s energy mix with an emphasis on renewable sources.
SMEDAR president Patrice Dupray said: “Working with the delegated authority, this renewal provides us with the opportunity to review all our operation parameters in order to maximize the plant’s overall performance. The ultimate aim is to make electricity production more efficient and improve the supply of thermal power to the Vésuve district heating network.”
“This new contract reflects SMEDAR’s trust in Veolia’s expertise around operational performance and integrating digital technology into our service solutions for local authorities, such as the Urban Board app,” adds Bernard Harambillet, Chief Executive Officer of Waste Recycling & Recovery Business.
Urban Board, plant digital dashboard
Urban Board provides SMEDAR with unlimited mobile access to operation parameters in real time. The app may eventually include new services and new parameters, including social parameters. By providing an overview, Urban Board links urban service performance with residents’ impressions across the full spectrum of environmental services.
Source: Company Press Release