In Golbey, the largest biomass boiler in France

Press article published by Vosges Matin by Philippe Nicolle — June 25, 2025 at 19:45 | Updated on June 26, 2025 at 09:25

In Golbey, the largest biomass boiler in France swallows 50 trucks of wood per day

In action since June 1, the largest biomass cogeneration boiler in France, built on the Norske Skog site by Pearl Infrastructure and managed by Veolia, will supply the Norwegian paper manufacturer with steam. Thanks to 5,000 tons of charred wood every week, which requires a just-in-time supply.

The biomass cogeneration boiler, which therefore produces steam and electricity, inaugurated this Wednesday in Golbey at the end of the 70-hectare land plot belonging to the Norske Skog paper manufacturer, has two characteristics that are specific to it.

It is already the largest boiler of this type in France. “It delivers 125 megawatts of nominal power and runs 24 hours a day,” says Lucas Soufflet, the operations manager who arrived on the site last September on behalf of Veolia.

And this equipment is perhaps the last of its type to be built in France. “There is no longer a call for cogeneration tenders launched by the Commission de Régulation de l'Énergie (CRE)”, explains Pierre Rellet, the co-founder of the Pearl Infrastructure investment fund, which financed 80% of the €200 million needed to build the boiler. Veolia, which manages the operation, and Norske Skog, to whom 100% of the steam produced is sold, each own 10% of this asset.

“We managed to stay within the budget”

Delivered on May 31 and officially operational on June 1, the boiler operated by Green Valley Energ, the company created for this project, was erected in accordance with the planned specifications.

“We are only four months behind schedule and managed to stay on budget. This is a great result,” says the boss of Pearl Infrastructure, which has already financed a dozen projects in France and abroad intended to produce green energy. As is the case in Golbey where the GVE boiler is supplied with 90% demolition wood and 10% with sludge from the Norske Skog wastewater treatment plant.

Maximum four days of wood stock

“Every day, 80 trucks deliver recovered wood throughout the North-East Quarter and even a little bit in Rhône-Alpes”, indicates Lucas Soufflet. Therefore, on a daily basis, the boiler swallows the equivalent of 50 trucks of wood.

“We store the wood waste passed through our shredders in two silos of 7,000 m³ each. This ensures us a maximum of four days of stock, i.e. the equivalent of a long weekend with a public holiday,” adds the operations manager, whose thirty colleagues take turns day and night in 5x8 to monitor the incineration of decommissioned wood managed on a dedicated platform where 350,000 tons of wood pass per year, including 100,000 tons of wood per year, including 100,000 for the biomass boiler that NSG already owns.

Thus, the new GVE boiler produces 700 GWh of steam for Norske Skog, used mainly to dry paper rolls, but also 200 GWh of green electricity injected into the RTE network, equivalent to the annual consumption of 41,000 households.

Electricity purchased at a price guaranteed by EDF via a 20-year contract. It was the deal when Pearl, Veolia and Norske Skog teamed up to respond to the CRE 5 tender. It was in 2022. Three years later, the largest biomass boiler in France went into action.