Waste-to-Energy Plant
Current plant
One watchword: waste recovery
The Principality of Monaco has always sought to preserve the quality of its environment and be self-sufficient in treating its waste. As a result, the first waste recycling plant was built in 1898 on a site close to the current plant.
The incineration of waste consists of its mineralisation. Incineration offers a number of advantages, not least a significant reduction in the amount of waste to be landfilled (around 90% by volume and 75% by mass).
The modern concept of treatment plants involves not only incinerating waste and recovering the energy produced by combustion, but more specifically recovering this energy in the form of electricity and heat. Waste-to-energy plants can therefore be likened to industrial co-generation units whose primary objective is to incinerate waste.
The current plant is the third of its kind. Commissioned in 1980, it is capable of incinerating 80,000 tonnes of waste a year, which puts it on par with other European plants. It has all the latest operating equipment and complies with European exhaust gas emission standards.
Perfectly integrated into the urban fabric
The Monaco plant has many special features. Located in the heart of the Fontvieille district, its architectural integration has been carefully thought out: its perimeter walls are lined with soundproofing to keep noise emissions to a minimum. The chimney – usually the most visible element of this type of facility – is totally integrated into the building.
In addition, the white plume of water vapour has been completely eliminated. The building is earthquake-proof and has a footprint of just 1,500 m2, which justifies its high-rise design. Lastly, some of the energy recovered is in the form of chilled water, produced by absorption chillers in a nearby refrigeration plant and used to air-condition industrial and commercial buildings.
A state-of-the-art technical unit
The Waste-to-Energy Plant comprises two boiler furnaces and two exhaust gas treatment lines. It operates continuously throughout the year and recovers the energy produced by combustion in two forms:
- ELECTRICITY, which is used for its own power supply, with any surplus distributed via the public network operated by Société Monégasque de l'Électricité et du Gaz. This supply corresponds approximately to the annual needs of the Principality's public lighting.
- STEAM, which feeds a heating and cooling plant, where the energy is recovered in the form of heated and cooled fluids distributed by two urban networks for the heating and cooling of public and semi-public buildings in the Fontvieille district.
The design and subsequent development of this facility have always enabled it to comply with European environmental standards, particularly those relating to atmospheric emissions. In addition, noise emissions in the immediate vicinity of the plant have been reduced to a minimum thanks to particularly careful treatment of the building envelope. Similarly, no odour nuisance is detectable, as the entire facility is under a vacuum.
