Farmers who are members of the Herbauges cooperative in favor of the super methaniser project.

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F. Brenon / 20Minutes

  • The plant will have the capacity to process nearly 500,000 tonnes of animal waste and plant crops.

  • It will produce biomethane that it will sell to the local gas network.

  • Partner farmers will receive additional income.

Mentioned for six months, the super methaniser project, the largest in France, carried by an agricultural cooperative in the town of Corcoué-sur-Logne (Loire-Atlantique), south of Nantes, is causing concern among some of the local population.

Despite the growing dispute, the farmers who are members of the Herbauges cooperative confirmed on Tuesday their intention to complete the construction of this collective unit planned to transform cow droppings into biomethane from the end of 2023. But they also have announced that it had decided to "reduce by a third" the volumes initially envisaged in order to "take into account" the main criticism expressed during the preliminary consultation: the "size of the project", considered too large by the residents.

Concretely, the new project will remain unparalleled in France but it now plans to process 498,000 tonnes of material per year, against 680,000 tonnes previously.

Three quarters of these materials will be livestock effluents, the remaining quarter will be plant crops known as nitrate traps (CIPAN).

The contributing farmers (230 initially) will be fewer.

The volume of trucks serving the unit will also be reduced by a third, or a prospect of 57 round trips per day.

However, the plant's equipment will remain identical (eight tanks) and “as efficient as before”, particularly with regard to odor and noise regulation.

The investment cost (80 million euros) therefore does not change but it will be, given the announced reduction in volumes to be processed, longer to amortize.

"This is the best consensus", assure the breeders

“We are listening to comments and this new project is the best consensus we can have.

We understood that it would be difficult to get the initial project accepted given its size.

We must move forward, ”explains Guillaume Voineau, president of the cooperative and breeder in Beaufou (Vendée).

He adds that the anaerobic digestion unit would be "no longer viable" economically or "less efficient" if it were revised further downwards.

"It is a breeding project in the service of the environment", insists Nature Energy, Danish operator of renewable energies, associated with the cooperative.

The Herbauges cooperative is based in Corcoué-sur-Logne.

Its methaniser could see the light of day next door.

- F. Brenon / 20Minutes

The biogas produced will be resold and reinjected into the local gas network.

Farmers will be remunerated in exchange, which could “represent between 1 and 1.5 additional minimum wage per farm”.

They will also recover a kind of compost called digestate, which they can reuse as a natural fertilizer.

“It is a collective project that will allow us to move forward on the ecological transition.

We do not want to change the agricultural model as we can hear it here and there.

Our job is breeding, it's milk ”, insists Luc Hervouet, farmer in Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu.

The biogas plant is to be built on 7 hectares of land, right next to the headquarters of the cooperative.

The building permit will be filed in April.

If the prefect gives the green light, a public inquiry could then begin.

At the same time, the project leaders also intend to appeal to the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), as requested by opponents.

"The project remains on an industrial scale", criticize opponents

The latter, precisely, seem unconvinced by the revision of the project.

"These announcements are just to appease the population," reacts Mauricette Couëron, spokesperson for the Collectif Vigilance Méthanisation Corcoué.

The project continues and remains on an industrial scale.

We are not against anaerobic digestion, but it must remain on a human scale.

Road traffic will also remain too important for our small roads.

There is also a risk of industrial incident and pollution, as we have seen in Châteaulin.

And then, if the plant remains at its initial size, who tells us that the volumes will not increase in a second step?

"Environmentalists also fear a" possible drift "in agricultural practices, some farms may be tempted to specialize their crops or increase their herd" in order to feed the methaniser ".

“Let's stop believing that the single thought is that of the collective of opponents, annoys Gilles Tourlonias, employee of the cooperative.

The majority of the inhabitants that we meet are not hostile to the project.

They know us and are well aware of the difficulties of breeding.

"On February 13, around 600 people demonstrated in Corcoué-sur-Logne to say" no to XXL methanization ".

The petition against the project also collected 2,200 signatures.

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  • Methanization