Circular economy: the equivalent of 1,150 homes in Saint Chély d’Apcher now heated using energy recovered from the ArcelorMittal site
June 5, 2018 – The heat generated by the ArcelorMittal Saint Chély d’Apcher plant now supplies the heating network of the town of Saint Chély d’Apcher in Lozère. The connection comes after several months’ work, as part of a collective project led by Kyotherm. This investment, worth a total of 5.6 million euros, was supported by the ADEME and the Occitanie Region. It will reduce CO2 emissions from the plant and the city’s heating network by over 4,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking around 2,000 new cars off the road. As part of World Environment Day, the connection is officially inaugurated today*.
From factory to city: the path of “fatal” heat
The steel produced by ArcelorMittal is heated to over 1,000°C to give it its magnetic properties. The site’s new annealing furnace, inaugurated in 2013, runs on electricity, much of which is generated by hydroelectric power plants located near Saint Chély d’Apcher.
The heat that used to be lost during steel cooling, known as “waste heat”, is now recovered. It is recovered within the plant for the needs of the industrial process as well as for heating the halls, thus improving working conditions for employees.
The surplus recovered heat not used on site is then made available to the city’s heating network, operated by ENGIE Cofely subsidiary SCABE. ArcelorMittal and the Kyotherm group (third-party financier and project owner through its subsidiary RESC) called on Schneider Electric to design and build these facilities, which capture up to 4.8 MW of heat.
This energy is distributed via a 1.2 km network, within the plant and up to the SCABE boiler room, which then supplies the swimming pool, schools, hospital, housing…rnrnThis recovery of waste heat should cover energy needs corresponding to the consumption of around 1,150 homes.
* in the presence of Christine Wils-Morel, prefect of Lozère, Carole Delga, former minister, president of the Occitanie Pyrénées Méditerranée region, Pierre Lafont, mayor of Saint-Chély d’Apcher, Yves Cotten, president of SCABE, Rémi Cuer, Kyotherm investment officer and Philippe Chapus, director of ArcelorMittal Saint Chély d’Apcher.
A collective will to act for green energies and a positive impact on the environment
Exporting “waste” heat is of great environmental interest. For the city, this recovered heat replaces heat produced by oil-fired boilers during peak winter consumption, and enables biomass boilers to be shut down in summer. For the industrial site, this recovered heat substantially reduces fossil fuel consumption. In addition, the remaining heat that will still be produced from fossil fuels will be produced in a more environmentally-friendly way, as the project also incorporates the replacement of the industrial site’s heavy fuel oil boilers with a 4 MW high-efficiency natural gas boiler plant.
All in all, this project will improve the plant’s carbon footprint by 17 GWh/year of consumption, and avoid the atmospheric release of over 4,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
