Engie and Nasuvinsa will finish building the Txantrea heat station powered by biomass

Engie , through its subsidiary Districalor Renovable in Pamplona, ​​and Nasuvinsa will complete the construction of the Txantrea district heating plant in Pamplona in the second half of 2023. This was announced by the Vice President of the Government of Navarre, José María Aierdi , who assured that the plant will be fully operational by then. The heating plant will be the central component of the pioneering Efidistrict Txantrea project, whose objective is the comprehensive energy rehabilitation of this neighborhood in Pamplona.

This is a benchmark infrastructure at the national and European levels eur primarily due to its innovative commitment to using locally sourced forest biomass , composed of wood chips, as the main energy source for its boilers. Forest biomass is a green and renewable fuel, and one of its suppliers will be the pilot biomass processing center established in 2021 in Aoiz/Agoitz by the Navarre Agency for Territory and Sustainability, Lursarea, which is part of Nasuvinsa.

Replacing the current communal heating boilers with centralized hot water production using biomass will allow a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 7,000 tons per year, which is 80% less than at present.

The Txantrea nuclear power plant will be built in two consecutive phases, with a total investment of eur million . Of that sum, €6.8 million will be contributed by Nasuvinsa and financed 50% by this public company and 50% by the Eur Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the remaining €6.9 million by the concessionary company Engie, responsible for operating the plant for a period of 36 years, as reported by the Vice President and Minister of Housing, José Mª Aierdi, during his visit to the construction site.

A sustainable approach, with forest biomass boilers.
The facilities and equipment of the heating plant occupy a single-story building currently under construction on a publicly owned plot of land in the Iturrondo industrial park, located between the municipalities of Pamplona and Burlada, adjacent to the San Francisco Javier Center of the Navarre Health Service (Osasunbidea) and the Parque del Mundo (World Park). Of the 9,043 m² plot, 1,600 m² are occupied by the heating plant.

This plot of land has been ceded to Nasuvinsa by the Heritage Service of the Government of Navarra for this purpose and has required a modification of the current urban planning, a procedure that has been carried out within the framework of a collaboration agreement between this public company and the municipalities of Pamplona and Burlada, in whose municipal boundaries these facilities are located.

Once its two phases of development are complete, the facility will centrally produce hot water to meet the heating and domestic hot water needs of more than half the homes in the neighborhood —specifically 2,200 in the first phase, currently underway, and another 2,300 in the second. In addition to supplying residential communities, the plant will also be able to meet the needs of other nearby public buildings, belonging to both the Government of Navarre and the Pamplona City Council.

The project begins with the aim of extending the supply to the rest of the neighborhood and the neighboring municipality of Burlada, as well as to several public welfare and service buildings located in the vicinity of the power plant , such as the San Francisco Javier Center or educational centers.

Center Description:
The plant will have a total production capacity of up to 39 MW and will include, in addition to two forest biomass boilers as its primary energy source, a secondary natural gas installation to cover peak consumption and maintenance or emergency situations . To minimize the power of this gas installation, and its consumption, a 1,800 m³ water tank has been planned, which will allow prioritizing biomass heat generation during the night and thus increasing the use of this clean energy.

The plant forms a longitudinal block, almost parallel to the Northern Ring Road (PA 30), and includes a biomass boiler room with two independent units, as well as their corresponding feeding, ash collection, and control systems, hoppers, and electrostatic precipitators. It will also have workshops and office space. Wood chips for feeding the boilers are stored in an underground silo with a capacity of 1,500 m³ .

Hot water will reach homes through an underground supply network with closed circuits of pre-insulated steel pipes , through which hot water will be pumped from the production center to the communities of neighbors and will return to be heated and start a new cycle.

The network will have a total length exceeding 4,500 meters when the power plant is in full development phase.

A project of this scale, fueled by forest biomass, will diversify the energy supply in its area of ​​operation and reduce current energy dependence on fossil fuels . Furthermore, the use of this renewable fuel enhances the value of forest resources near the point of consumption.

2,300 homes rehabilitated in Txantrea.
Efidistrict Txantrea gives its name to one of the pioneering projects for energy rehabilitation and urban regeneration, a neighborhood-scale intervention that offers as a novelty the creation of a neighborhood office to directly inform residents interested in improving the energy efficiency of their homes and their level of comfort, and to offer them technical support and accompany them throughout the process of drafting, processing and execution of the project, as well as in the search for financing options and in the management of public aid for energy rehabilitation.

This project is improving the energy efficiency of nearly 2,300 homes through thermal insulation of facades, network upgrades, and improved accessibility, among other measures. Of the total number of homes, 644 correspond to the first phase, completed in 2018; another 1,116 to the second phase (2018-2021), currently underway; and 531 more to the third phase, now in the planning stages.

Eur Projects
The Txantrea heat station is selected among the actions financed by the Operational Programme of the European Regional Development Fund ( Eur ) 2014-2020 of Navarra for its important support for energy efficiency, smart energy management and the use of renewable energies in public infrastructures, including public buildings, and in private homes.

Likewise, the eurproject H2020 STARDUST, of which Nasuvinsa is a partner entity, has provided technical and legal advice on key aspects such as the feasibility plan or the public-private management model, a pioneer at the state level.