French Coalmine Gas Producer Content with Progress
French coalmine methane (CMM) producer La Francaise de l'Energie (LFDE) said November 8 it achieved a turnover of €1.6mn ($1.8mn) in the first quarter of its 2018/19 financial year, up 13% year on year.
During the recent July-September 2018 quarter, its turnover from generating 'green electricity' from CMM reached €1.047mn, up 33%.
On October 27, at the inauguration of its latest 'green electricity' micro power plant by government officials at Avion in northeast France, the company said it was already operating four such plants with a total installed capacity of 9 MW. These had already produced more than 15 gigawatt-hours in less than four months of operation, LFDE added, which was supplied to EDF. Capture of the CMM in this way enables LFDE to avoid the release into the atmosphere of some 250,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, which qualifies it to receive a green electricity feed-in tariff guaranteed for 15 years from the French state.
In its Nov.8 results, LFDE said it would roll out further green co-generation facilities (electricity and heat) in France and nearby, and said it is currently finalising production tests at such a site at Anderlues in Belgium where the first units will be deployed in 2019.
LFDE said, as expected, less CMM was produced in early September while new compressor motors were added at its production site, but the lower production volume was offset by a sharp price in gas prices. Further replacement of old motors with newer ones will continue until the end of December 2018. "The positive effects of these investments will be visible from the beginning of 2019 with an expected increase in the volume of gas injected" and an expected increase in gas production capacity at Avion would, said LFDE enable it to increase turnover further during the course of 2018/2019.