16|01|2012

L'Oréal promotes the construction of a biomass plant next to its factory in Burgos

This year the multinational L'Oréal will promote the construction of a power, hot and chilled water plant in Burgos using biomass as fuel. The plant will supply the group’s adjacent cosmetics factory.

The plant, which will be ready in November, will be built on a 5,000 square metre plot that the group has ceded to Biocen, a specialised company who will take charge of the biomass plant with support from a specialised Austrian company.

The project involves an investment of 14.2 million euros, of which L'Oréal will provide 2.4 million, corresponding to the supply pipes and internal installation required, while the remaining 11.8 million will be financed by Biocen, in which companies belonging to the Government of Castilla and Leon also hold 30 per cent.

Once completed, the plant will allocate 70 per cent of its energy production, about 12 megawatts per year, to the L'Oreal factory, leaving a margin of 30 per cent to contribute to other companies on the Villalonquéjar industrial estate on the outskirts of Burgos where the plant will be located.

The project has been designed so that the plant is compatible with other clean energy production methods and is scalable, should an increase in demand make it necessary.

The plant will be fuelled by wood waste, both from clearing forests and sawmills, with consumption estimated at 8,000 tonnes of wood waste per year.