With rising energy prices, many people are racking their brains to find alternatives. And if the exploitation of the famous “firedamp”, this gas trapped in the old mining arteries, was part of it? In Charleroi, this is a solution that is gaining ground.
After coal, gas? And if one of the solutions to deal with the energy crisis was under our feet, in the heart of the mining galleries? the gaz which is there, can be recovered in terms of energy. By burning it, we can produce electricity and heat.
” It is methane which comes out of our old mine galleries and which is released into the atmosphere, but which pollutes enormously. The objective is therefore to exploit it to make a heat network, and produce electricity, instead of letting it contribute to climate change. “, Explain Christophe Clersy (Ecolo), Walloon deputy, at Telesambre.
To Anderlues, miners have not been going down the galleries for a long time. But since 2019, the “firedamp”who is imprisoned there, is picked up by Gazonor, subsidiary of Française de l’Energie. Two first cogeneration units have license to produce electricity from this gas in order to inject it into the local distribution network. Recently, three other units have been created, and allow citizens to come and charge their electric vehicle for free.
” There, with the 5 engines currently, we have the equivalent of 20 wind turbines, and the electricity consumption of 35,000 inhabitants “, was already advancing Pascal MittelbergerDirector of Infrastructure for Ores, last may. ” This injection is made at a voltage level which allows it to be redistributed both locally and at a greater distance. Unlike wind power or photovoltaics, which are closely linked to nature, here we have a reserve of gas which supplies these cogenerations continuously. Which is easier to operate in terms of network management and people’s needs. “