Are we heading towards a district heating revolution? Thanks to the SMR, a small French modular nuclear reactor, the Gorgé group wants to supply district heating networks with its Calogena project. “It is a very important issue because it is an extremely carbon-intensive sector. To heat ourselves we burn fuel oil, gas, coal…”, Raphaël Gorgé, CEO of the Gorgé Group and president of Calogena, underlines to BFM Business.
“Pencil containing uranium pellets”
In 2021, building heating generated 2.5 billion direct tons of CO2 worldwide, or nearly 7% of global emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. To decarbonize the sector, Calogena offers a reactor based “on the fuel used in most French nuclear power plants,” explains Raphaël Gorgé. Or a kind of “pencil containing uranium pellets.”
The reactor core measures less than a cubic meter. In this way it will be possible to bury it underground, submerged in a pool, so that it can remain autonomous for seven days without fear of overheating.
A module to power around 12,000 homes
“You don’t have to be too close to the cities,” also emphasizes Raphaël Gorgé, who points out that these SMRs should be installed far from the municipalities (between 15 and 20 kilometers). The president of the project estimates that one Calogena module will be able to supply energy to 12,000 homes. Thus, municipalities with between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants will be the target audience.
If the project is planned for 2030, negotiations with the municipalities have already begun because “it takes years”, according to Raphaël Gorgé. “These are long-term contracts between the heat operators, the communities and the company,” he explains, highlighting that Calogena could sell the reactor in addition to the energy produced.
Source: BFM TV
