The building permit was signed on Monday evening in Weinbourg: by September, five hangars, 360 meters long and 22 wide, will house a unit for manufacturing pellets from biomass and will support 35 m² of photovoltaic panels. , enough to supply electricity to the nearby town of Ingwiller.
When Jean-Luc Westphal sent his letter last July requesting connection to Electricité de Strasbourg for his photovoltaic project with a power of 4,5 megawatts, the ES recalled upon receipt of the mail to "rectify the fault. Because you probably wanted to write 4,5 kilowatts, right? "
Well no, there was no confusion: the project about to be carried out at the foot of the Northern Vosges, between Weinbourg and the industrial area of Ingwiller, relates to photovoltaic electricity production which is measured in MW.
It plans 35 m² of silicon panels on the roof, which would make it the largest integrated photovoltaic installation in France or even in Europe [currently, the largest integrated surface in mainland France would be located on the roof of the Geoffroy-Guichard football stadium. in Saint-Etienne with 000 m²].
At the start of this crazy gamble, a typically agricultural project. Jean-Luc Westphal who manages with his brother Daniel an essentially cereal exploitation of 200 ha wanted to diversify and produce energy from his activity.
Recovering crop residues and cutting waste
Passionate about renewable energies (the Westphal brothers were the first in 2003 to set up a cereal boiler), the farmer-entrepreneur imagined compacting corn cane and wheat straw, as well as wood waste forester of surrounding farms.
This biomass transformed into pellets and briquettes, will then be sold as fuel "for an energy yield far superior to wood". He also intends to develop crops reputed to be energetic: miscanthus, for example, also called elephant grass, from Asia, a simple crop with a yield of 15 t per hectare (compared to six for cereal straw) or even willow, short rotation wood (12 t / ha).
In the mind of Jean-Luc Westphal, this biomass will advantageously replace fuel oil: "Once processed, 2,2 kg of wheat straw is equivalent to a liter of fuel oil, for half the price". But processing at a lower cost requires natural drying and therefore significant storage capacity, sheltered from the weather.
"This is where the project combined with photovoltaics," explains the farmer. Since I had to build very large storage halls, I might as well orient them to the south and provide for silicon panels on the roof. ”
Investment amortized over eleven years
From an initial investment of 2 million euros, the project suddenly rose to 22 million, the additional cost corresponding to 35 m² of photovoltaic cells for an electrical production unit with a power of 000 MW. With the purchase price imposed for integrated photovoltaics, the return on investment is expected eleven years after the start of production.
With his file under his arm, Jean-Luc Westphal embarked on a veritable marathon, in particular with the authorities to carry out his business. "You had to see the heads of people when they took the measure of the project, reports Pierre Froeliger who as a lawyer assisted his friend in all the procedures, authorization requests, declaration of exploitation, connection requests, negotiation of supplies , etc. We can say that we wiped plasters everywhere but we hung on ».
Except with the rapidly seduced bank, we had to convince again and again that such a project, innovative but designed without a research firm and carried by a single shareholder, was viable.
Finally, all the authorizations have been obtained or are in the process of being notified and the building permit was signed Monday evening by the mayor of Weinbourg. The five buildings will soon emerge from the ground on the grounds of SAS Hanau-Energie and by September, the new unit should start its double production with at least five direct jobs.
Simone wehrung
http://www.dna.fr/local/region/20080123_DNA008813.html
