France-headed global multi-energy major TotalEnergies SE and compatriot sugar and alcohol group Cristal Union have signed a fifteen-year agreement whereby the latter will supply TotalEnergies with sugarbeet pulp as feedstock for its biomethane production unit BioNorrois, currently being built in Fontaine-le-Dun, in Normandy, and due to be commissioned in late 2024.
The organic waste produced by Cristal Union’s sugarbeet processing in Fontaine-le-Dun will make up over half of the anaerobic digestion (AD) unit’s feedstock when it begins operations – the remainder being organic agri-food waste sourced by TotalEnergies from the unit’s local vicinity.
During the first phase of the digester’s operations, biomethane aka renewable natural gas (RNG) production is expected to reach almost 100 GWh/year, eventually expanding to a maximum capacity of 153 GWh/year.
In the spirit of cooperation, value sharing, and support for the local economy which has driven the project’s partners since its outset, the agreement provides for Cristal Union to acquire a 10 percent stake in the BioNorrois AD unit.
This is the first such deal by a sugar manufacturer with the biogas industry in France and Europe and will be a key contributor to the group’s decarbonization strategy.
The BioNorrois project, which will be TotalEnergies’ second-largest biomethane production unit in France, furthers our sustainable growth in the country, particularly in Normandy, a region with high potential. We are thrilled to have signed this partnership with Cristal Union, a French group with global reach and a major player in the manufacturing sector representing national excellence as well as sovereignty. Cristal Union is fully committed to the energy and environmental transition, and this partnership provides all the ecological and social benefits associated with anaerobic digestion for the parties concerned and, more widely, for the local area in which the project is fully integrated. This partnership could pave the way for other similar projects in France and Europe, said Olivier Guerrini, VP of Biogas at TotalEnergies.
Circular economy approach
The project in Fontaine-le-Dun also demonstrates a local, circular economy approach, as the anaerobic digestion unit is situated opposite the sugar factory.
Furthermore, all the organic fertilizer, or digestate, produced in addition to biogas during the anaerobic digestion process will be recovered by Cristal Union and the farming cooperative NatUp, which will distribute it to their local members, thereby helping them achieve their transition to more local and sustainable methods of fertilization.
Cristal Union has set itself an ambitious target: making all its sugar factories self-sufficient in energy by 2050, by recovering and re-using their production waste. This partnership with TotalEnergies, a full-scale project for the anaerobic digestion of sugarbeet pulp, is fully in line with our Group’s ambitious decarbonization strategy. The biomethane plant currently under construction is the first of its kind in France, unique both for its production capacity using sugar beet pulp, and for its location next to the gates of the sugar factory in Fontaine-le-Dun. In addition, the digestate, which is rich in minerals and natural organic matter, will be delivered to our farming cooperative members to be used for soil fertilization and improvement. We are delighted to be working with TotalEnergies in this partnership built on trust, co-ownership, and long-term investment, said Xavier Astolfi, Managing Director of Cristal Union.
