Réunion Island

The beginnings of cogeneration

In 1992, at the Bois-Rouge site, Albioma commissioned the first thermal power plant in France that was able to transform bagasse into renewable energy. This innovative model, which is based on a partnership agreed with the sugar industry, has been successfully replicated both on an international scale and in Réunion Island, where a second cogeneration unit was opened in Le Gol in 1995. In 2019 Albioma has commissioned the first combustion turbine in the world operating on bioethanol in order to meet consumption fluctuations on the grid.

Reunion Island definitively abandoned coal in 2023 thanks to the conversion of our 2 power plants
Bois-Rouge now operates on 100% biomass

Conversion work to ensure that the plant operates 100% on biomass, favoring available local biomass deposits, was completed in the second half of 2023. This enabled the total abandonment of coal and an 84% reduction in carbon emissions. greenhouse gas emissions from the unit compared to its current operation.

The Energy Regulation Commission’s assessment also provides for an investment budget, to stretch out the service life of the Group’s oldest unit (ABR1) by 15 years; accordingly, the power purchase agreement has been extended from 2027 to 2043.

Biomass storage domes in the Port Est dock complex have been inflated as part of these conversion works. These 49 m tall, 45,000 cu. m domes are now visible from the municipalities of Le Port and La Possession, as well as nearby roads.

Le Gol has also completed its conversion work

Following the publication of the CRE deliberation of February 24, 2022 ruling on the cost of the complete project for the conversion to biomass of the Albioma Le Gol power plant in Reunion, and the publication on April 20, 2022 of the decree relating to the PPE Revised meeting, amendments to the power purchase contracts for the ALG-A and ALG-B power plants were signed on April 29, 2022.

The conversion work was completed in 2023. It particularly concerned the storage and handling of biomass.

Subsequently, the plant will operate with wood pellets or local biomass (instead of coal) outside the sugar campaign, and with bagasse during the sugar campaign. The biomass used will primarily be local biomass, supplemented by biomass imported in the form of wood pellets from Australia, via our Tuan wood pellet production plant, located in the state of Queensland, Australia.

We are working with the National Forestry Office (ONF) to develop the local wood energy sector, which will generate new jobs and reduce the share of biomass imports.

Valorization of Solid Recovered Fuels (CSR)

Albioma will recycle household waste residues to produce electricity in the Bois-Rouge power plant.

The communities of municipalities in the North and East of Reunion Island have decided, for several years, to put an end to all landfilling and to enter into a logic of circular economy. Also, upon deliberation of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) of November 16, 2023, Albioma obtained the green light for the energy recovery of solid recovered fuel (CSR) from the multi-sector waste recovery center of the Inovest company in Sainte-Suzanne.

On the Bois-Rouge site, a dedicated boiler will make it possible to recover, each year, nearly 70,000 tonnes of this high energy quality product. This solution will be effective at the end of 2026 and will, beyond constituting a local resource, promoting the circular economy, contribute to the territory’s energy autonomy.

Solar energy, an activity with strong growth

With a 36,8 MW installed capacity in 2021, Albioma is the leading producer of photovoltaics in Réunion Island. These photovoltaic power plants are all located in areas where there is no conflict of use, such as La Star, which was built on a landfill site that was still in operation. Others are located on the roofs of buildings, such as those on the E. Leclerc shopping centre, the covered playground of the Iris Hoarau school – for own consumption purposes – and the Grand Port Ouest. The latter was commissioned in 2018 and can operate continuously using a battery storage system enabling electricity to be sent to the grid during peak consumption periods. An excellent supplier of peak energy, solar power has a rosy future ahead. As part of the partnership signed with the Réunion social housing association, the Group has constructed 51 photovoltaic power plants in 2019 on residential roofs.