A French consortium, composed of Lhyfe and French solar energy producer TSE, is to create a green energy hub and re-industrialize the Poitou Foundries site, with support from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region (France).
A year after the site’s closure, the Commercial Court of Paris just rendered its decision on the take-over of the land and real estate assets of the Fonderies du Poitou sites. These include the Ingrandes Foundry (a 43-hectare site with 40,000 sq. metres of buildings) and the Oyré Technical Landfill Centre (a 35-hectare site).
The Ingrandes Foundry site will be taken over by the consortium, formed of a joint venture between Lhyfe and TSE. As for the Technical Landfill Centre, it is being fully taken over by TSE, which will devote the land entirely to the production of solar energy with a 45 GWh plant.
Lhyfe and TSE have been preparing the site take-over for over a year and a half, accompanied and supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, the urban community of Grand Châtellerault, the Prefecture of Vienne and the Sub-Prefecture of Châtellerault, with a view to building a common project that goes far beyond the “simple” production of green hydrogen or green electricity.
“The joint Lhyfe and TSE project for the Ingrandes Foundry site is particularly ambitious. It involves firstly dismantling the existing infrastructure and cleaning up the site to make it compatible with the industrialization process, thanks to the Green Fund, and then building the bases of a truly ecological industrial park where companies will work in synergy”, explained Ghislain Robert, Sales Director for France at Lhyfe.
“After nearly two years’ work, in consultation with and with the support of the regional authorities, TSE and Lhyfe are proud to have formed an innovative consortium that is leading this project for the revitalisation of the historic Poitou Foundries site. It is a green and virtuous reindustrialisation project, creating jobs that will accelerate energy transition and regional economic development”, said Alban Casimir, Deputy Managing Director in charge of Industry Convergence at TSE.
The photovoltaic power facilities that TSE plans to install at the landfill centre site and at the Ingrandes Foundry site could supply electricity to the latter, allowing Lhyfe to produce green and renewable hydrogen. The power produced will be equivalent to half that consumed by the city of Poitiers.
Several companies have already expressed their interest in joining the Ingrandes site, in synergy with Lhyfe and TSE, such as an industrial logistics company which plans to create a 20,000 sq. metre logistics centre at the site, as well as e-fuel producing companies (e-methanol and rDME).
Eventually this green energy hub should, thanks to the contribution of all involved companies, help create 250 to 300 jobs, with investments expected to amount to several hundreds of millions of euros.
“For the Region, this is a landmark regeneration project for a major industrial site in Nouvelle Aquitaine. Focusing on green energy and the circular economy, this project led by the Lhyfe and TSE consortium will create hundreds of qualified and non-relocatable jobs. It is fully in keeping with our NeoTerra strategy and our desire to become France’s No.1 eco-responsible region. It is a boost for the Châtellerault employment area, which was heavily impacted by the successive crises of these last few years”, stressed Alain Rousset, President of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region.
“Our community welcomes this news with great enthusiasm and pride. Just a year after the wind up of Fonderies du Poitou, we are going to write it a new chapter, thanks to the combined efforts of public authorities. The project led by the consortium is in line with our desire to make Grand Châtellerault an area for green industry and, most importantly, with the objectives of our Territorial Climate, Air and Energy Plan. Providing more than 250 jobs, this, here, is a major factor of attractiveness for the community”, said Jean-Pierre Abelin, Mayor of Châtellerault and President of the Grand Châtellerault urban community.
The Préfecture de la Vienne also confirmed this project as a part of one of the pillars of the France 2030 investment plan (funding could be mobilised in the long term), like the Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region which must, within the framework of Neoterra, receive financial support.