AREVA, in consortium with a French industrial boiler supplier Leroux and Lotz Technologies, has been selected by neoen, an electricity producer from renewable energies, following a call for tender for the construction of a biomass co-generation power plant in Commentry, France (Allier department), for an amount worth 55 million euros.

Using wood chips as fuel, this power plant will enable the reduction of 40,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. It will be able to generate around 15 MW of electrical power and 50 MW of thermal power.

AREVA and its partner Leroux and Lotz Technologies will supply all the equipment and services required for the construction and commissioning of the plant, scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.

Louis-Francois Durret, Senior Executive Vice-President of AREVA's Renewable Energies Business Group, said : "the trust shown in us by neoen is in large part attributed to AREVA Bioenergy's performance in safety and on-time delivery. This success enables AREVA to create more new jobs in France and consolidate its position as a worldwide leader in the bioenergy sector."

AREVA has completed the construction of two similar biomass power plants, one in Pierrelatte, France (Drome department) as well as in the Netherlands.

The group is the leading manufacturer of biomass power plants in the world with the largest installed base generating more than 2,500 MW and 100 power plants delivered.