16 MW RDF boiler planned for Blois residual-waste expansion

By Elena Vasquez

A 16 MW refuse-derived fuel boiler designed to produce 19 metric tons of steam per hour is planned for the Blois residual-waste treatment plant, with commissioning targeted for December 2027.

VYNCKE will supply the full boiler island—from the feeding system through the de-ashing system—for the project. Its WTB-V boiler has a 16 MW capacity and an output of 19 metric tons of steam per hour. That hourly rate equates to 456 metric tons over 24 hours of continuous operation.

What is operating today?

The Blois site already recovers energy from residual waste to produce heat and electricity. That is the operating base; the 16 MW WTB-V unit represents announced expansion, not installed capacity. The new line will use part of the existing infrastructure and add another route for energy recovery from the waste stream.

The project includes no stated waste-throughput figure. Nor does the announcement specify annual electricity generation, heat output or an operating schedule. For practitioners, those omissions keep measured capacity and contracted output separate from the headline boiler rating.

How will the boiler serve the facility?

The RDF-fired unit will produce superheated steam to drive a steam turbine, enabling electricity generation for the grid and heat supply for district heating. Its duties extend beyond energy delivery:

• Superheated steam will drive a turbine that supports grid electricity and district-heating heat.
• Saturated steam will reheat flue gases before they enter the selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, system.

Together, these functions make the boiler island both an energy asset and a component of the plant’s own flue-gas treatment process. The same steam system will therefore support useful energy output and internal operating requirements.

Who owns and operates the expansion?

Valcante, a subsidiary of SUEZ RV ENERGIE, operates the facility on behalf of ValEco, the public waste-management syndicate serving Blois, Amboise and Vendôme. ValEco owns the plant and is the primary investor in the new energy-recovery line.

Valcante is responsible for the line’s design, construction, financing and operation. VYNCKE’s role centers on supplying the complete boiler island, while SUEZ manages the wider process from fuel preparation through energy delivery.

The project announcement attributes that full chain to SUEZ: 'from preparing the refuse-derived fuel, or RDF, through to combustion and energy delivery.' Managing those stages in-house allows the operator to coordinate fuel preparation with the energy installation’s requirements, creating a direct link between the RDF prepared and the energy recovered.

SUEZ describes itself as an international water and waste-management company developing solutions that preserve resources and support community resilience and self-sufficiency. Here, the project combines SUEZ’s waste-management and operating expertise with VYNCKE’s combustion technology.

What changes for Blois’s energy market?

The new line will extend the existing waste-treatment infrastructure and create a route to convert part of the residual-waste stream into electricity for the grid and useful heat for the surrounding community. In practical terms, the project links waste treatment with local energy supply rather than treating heat and power as separate outputs.

For the district-heating market, useful heat delivered beyond the plant’s internal process needs will determine the line’s local contribution. For the electricity market, commissioning must translate into usable grid output. The announcement gives no offtake volumes or delivery timetable beyond the planned December 2027 start.

What decides what happens next?

The announcement discloses no permit deadline, procurement schedule, grid-connection date or heat-offtake agreement. December 2027 therefore stands as the only disclosed delivery milestone, and it remains a target rather than evidence of completed construction.

The decisive market checkpoint will follow commissioning, when Valcante must demonstrate grid electricity and district-heat delivery. The date to track is December 2027: successful delivery will decide whether the announced 16 MW becomes operating capacity.