Toulouse. They oppose the creation of a biomass boiler room and denounce an “ecocide” project

They are mobilizing against a project they are considering “ecocide”. Residents of the districts of Atlanta, Borderouge, Croix-Daurade and Roseraie will demonstrate on Saturday December 10, 2022 from 10 am, Place de la Roseraie, to protest against a biomass boiler project which should see the light of day in the district.

A project that moved to Atlanta

Local residents, taken together, do not lack qualifications to name this project: they denounce “a forced passage”, “a wrong project”a “false consultation” o “Cheap solution” and ask the town hall to fully review their plan to install biomass boilers in the district. This boiler room should specifically provide a new heating network for the future ZAC Grand Matabiau-Quai d’Oc.

Initially planned to be installed on the edge of the districts of Borderouge and Negreneys, in the location of a skate park, the town hall has already faced strong resistance from the inhabitants of the sector. He finally decided to move the project, a few hundred meters further, to the neighborhood from Atlanta, on the Chemin de Gramont. A plot of 7358 m² was targeted by the town hall.

“The biomass boiler room initially presented as the boiler room of the ZAC Matabiau is slipping, due to the lack of planning within the ZAC, towards a monumental heating network project for the north of Toulouse: the project is being carried out urgently and haste to meet the deadlines imposed by the schedule for the delivery of the first buildings of ZAC Matabiau scheduled for January 2024”, denounced the collective.

“We don’t want to move the problem”

“The town hall is only shifting the problem”, protests Roger Kesteloot, joined by News in Toulouse.

“Installing this plant next to the fire station, fifty meters from homes, near a school and nursery, is a good idea. The place is not more suitable. And what makes the tension worse is that there is no communication from the town hall on this project! “, added the spokesperson for the Toulouse Chauffe collective

For the collective, the town hall must review its copy. “Our goal is not to move the problem elsewhere but to rethink this project. Why do you want to build such a factory three kilometers from ZAC Matabiau? This will cause a lot of energy loss. And the very principle of biomass challenges us: it implies that in order to do this, we go find wood in the forest located around Toulouse. For us, this is an ecocide project. The town hall should think about other alternatives, such as geothermal energy or solar energy,” continues Roger Kesteloot.

Equipment that will not only supply Zac Matabiau

“We chose Atlanta because there is fewer buildings closer than the first site identified. There are no public buildings within 400 meters of the site”, indicating the News in Toulouse Pierre Trautmann, deputy mayor in charge of public procurement. He also remembers that biomass boilers are not new in Toulouse, specifically mentioning the equipment of the University of Rangueil, near the airport, the University Hospital of Purpan or the Vidailhan district in Balma.

“This project fully complies with Ademe’s recommendations. This type of biomass boiler is highlighted and encouraged everywhere in France! What is interesting is that this biomass boiler room can provide not only Zac Matabiau Quai d’Oc but alsoother buildings in the surrounding neighborhood, as in Cité Amouroux. We respect the residents who are demonstrating but we think this project is completely acceptable,” the elected official said.

4 candidates in line

With this change of location, this biomass boiler project size changes. A call for tenders has been launched to find the operator who will be responsible for the construction of this unit public service delegationfor 25 years.

According to our information, four candidates are running and the choice of Metropolis will be made public on February 16, 2023. Various candidates propose the construction of a biomass boiler whose power will be greater than if it had been installed in the first site finally canceled, with a power oscillating between 55 and 70 GW/h.

“For the community, it doesn’t cost a penny”, still assures Pierre Trauttmann. Once the delegate is selected, the boiler room must be served in 2024 or 2025.

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