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

The President of the Government of Navarre, María Chivite first neighborhood-scale heating plant and network in Navarre powered by forest biomass, located in the Txantrea district of Pamplona . This innovative project, one of the most powerful in Spain, will supply heating to 4,500 homes and public buildings, with a total investment of €13.8 million in two phases.

The new facility is being developed by Nasuvinsa and operated by the ENGIE , through its Navarre-based subsidiary Districalor. The first phase of the project included the construction of the civil works, the installation of a 24.5 MW heat generation plant, and the undergrounding of the first three kilometers of distribution network, consisting of double-walled, pre-insulated pipes through which hot water flows to homes and public buildings.

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

Representing ENGIE-Districalor were Janis Rey , General Manager of ENGIE Solutions in Spain, and Xavier Puyal , Director of the Heating and Cooling Networks Department. During the event, Janis Rey emphasized 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 a positive environmental impact is possible.”

School, sports center, and UD Txantrea:
In this first phase, the heating plant will supply heating to 2,000 homes, with another 2,500 to be added in a later phase. Currently, three public buildings are already connected to the heating network (heating and hot water): the García Galdeano public school and the Ezcaba sports center, both belonging to the Pamplona/Iruña City Council, as well as the UD Txantrea sports and cultural center. Service has also been contracted for 2,000 homes belonging to two separate heating communities: Calor Txantrea (800) and Orvina II (1,200).

Likewise, the possible incorporation of the San José heating community (500 homes) and two centers dependent on the Government of Navarra, namely Valle de Roncal and San Francisco Javier, the latter attached to the Navarro Health Service-Osasunbidea, as well as the Bernat Etxepare public school and the Izartegi Infant School, both belonging to the Pamplona City Council, is being managed.

1.8 million liter hot water tank
This first phase of construction and commissioning of the plant and the community heating network has involved an investment of 10.7 million eur , of which 6.9 million (65%) have been contributed by the public company Nasuvinsa, which has had a 50% subsidy for this under the FEDER Navarra program.

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

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

The plant has three pits for receiving and storing up to 1,000 cubic meters of wood chips to feed the heat generation infrastructure, which currently has a total installed capacity of 24.5 MW and will be expanded to 39 MW in the second phase . It also includes a pumping station and an external storage tank with a capacity of 1.8 million liters (1,800 m³) of hot water.

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

The use of biomass will prevent the annual emission of 4,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, a volume that will be doubled with the commissioning of a second boiler in a later phase.

Efidistrict Txantrea
The heating 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 support service to homeowners' associations, financed by the eurEfidistrict project (2014-2017), the agreements signed with the Pamplona City Council from 2018 to the present and the ELENA-PRIMAVERA project financed by the EurInvestment Bank (EIB) since 2021.