The first neighborhood-scale heat plant and network powered by forest chip biomass is already underway

The President of the Government of Navarra, María Chivite , has officially inaugurated in the Pamplona neighborhood of Txantrea the first neighborhood-scale heat plant and network in Navarra powered by forest biomass and one of the most powerful at the state level . This is an innovative project to supply heating to 4,500 homes and public centers, with a total investment of 13.8 million in two phases.

The new facility is promoted by Nasuvinsa and operated by the ENGIE , through its Navarrese subsidiary Districalor. The first phase of the project has included the construction of the civil works, the installation of heat generation of 24.5 MW of power and the burying of the first three kilometers of the distribution network formed by double pre-insulated pipes through which the water circulates. hot to homes and public buildings.

María Chivite has pointed out that “innovation and sustainability define this public initiative project, which meets the double objective of supplying heating to homes and heat networks (heating and domestic hot water) to public centers at competitive prices, and in Secondly, replace the use of fossil fuels with green energy such as forest biomass of indigenous origin, which will avoid in this first phase the annual emission into the atmosphere of 4,000 tons of CO2 .

Janis Rey , general director of ENGIE Solutions in Spain and Xavier Puyal , director of the Heat and Cold Networks department, attended on behalf of ENGIE-Districalor During the event, Janis Rey highlighted that “by combining advanced technology and local resources, such as forest biomass, we are not only contributing to the decarbonization of the city, but also demonstrating that energy management that combines efficiency, sustainability and impact is possible. positive in the environment.”

School, sports center and UD Txantrea
In this first phase, the heat plant will supply heating to 2,000 homes, to which another 2,500 will be added in a later phase. Currently, three public buildings are already connected to the heat network (heating and domestic hot water) , such as the García Galdeano public school and the Ezcaba sports center, both of the Pamplona/Iruña City Council, as well as the Txantrea Cultural Sports Union. The service is also contracted for 2,000 homes corresponding to two heat communities, specifically Calor Txantrea (800) and Orvina II (1,200).

Likewise, the possible incorporation of the San José heat community (500 homes) and two centers dependent on the Government of Navarra, such as Valle de Roncal and San Francisco Javier, the latter assigned to the Navarrese Health Service-Osasunbidea, , as well as the Bernat Etxepare public school and the Izartegi Infant School, both of the Pamplona City Council.

Deposit of 1.8 million liters of hot water
This first phase of construction and commissioning of the Central and the community heat network has meant 10.7 million eur , of which 6.9 million (65%) have been contributed by the Nasuvinsa public company, which has had a 50% subsidy with charge to the Feder Navarra program.

The remaining 3.8 million have been borne by ENGIE, a company that was awarded the construction, management and operation of the facilities for a period of 36 years.

The total capacity of the plant will reach its full development in a second phase that is expected to be operational by 2028 at the latest, and which will allow it to meet the heating demand of 4,500 homes.

The plant has three pits for reception and storage of up to 1,000 cubic meters of wood chips , to feed the heat generation infrastructure with a total installed power now of 24.5 MW , which will be expanded to 39 MW in the second. phase . It also has a pumping room and an outdoor tank in which 1.8 million liters (1,800 m3) of hot water are stored.

The main fuel that feeds the boiler is wood chip biomass, coming from forest areas that have a sustainable exploitation certificate located in Navarra or whose distance between origin and point of consumption is less than 150 km by road.

The use of biomass will allow the annual emission of 4,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere to be avoided, a volume that will be doubled with the entry into service of a second boiler in a later phase.

Efidistrict Txantrea
The heat plant was promoted within the framework of the Efidistrict Txantrea pilot plan for energy rehabilitation and urban regeneration, which allowed intervention until 2022 in more than 2,200 homes.

The urban regeneration of the neighborhood has been viable thanks to Nasuvinsa's accompaniment service to the communities of owners, financed by the eurOPEO EFIDISTRTICT (2014-2017) project, the agreements signed with the City Council of Pamplona from 2018 to the present and the Elena-Primavera project financed by the Bank EurOpeo of Investments (BEI) from 2021.