Albioma is an independent renewable energy producer. It is mainly active in the biomass and

solar photovoltaic A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and c ...

sectors, mainly in

mainland France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

and the French overseas territories. It is listed on the Euronext Paris.

History

In 1982, SIDEC (''Société Industrielle pour le Développement de l'Énergie Charbon'') was created by the

Charbonnages de France Charbonnages de France was a French enterprise created in 1946, as a result of the nationalization of the private mining companies. It was disbanded in 2007. References Mining companies of France French companies established in 1946 Non- ...

Group to help industrialists reduce the share of hydrocarbons in their energy sources. In 1994, Séchilienne, a subsidiary of Air Liquide, acquired a stake in SIDEC's capital, and then progressively acquired a majority stake until the two companies merged in 2001 to form Séchilienne-Sidec. In 2005,

Air Liquide Air Liquide S.A. (; ; literally "liquid air"), is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is ...

sold its stake to ''Financière Hélios'', which became its main shareholder (Hélios was then controlled by funds managed by

Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of December 2017, the firm, including its ...

and Altamir Amboise). The name Albioma was adopted in 2013 by Séchilienne Sidec, in parallel with a refocusing on biomass, reducing the share of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

in its plants, and solar energy. In 2015, the Apax Partners fund put 95% of its shares in the company up for sale. In 2012, Séchilienne Sidec bought 60% of the capital of Méthanéo, a company specialising in

anaerobic digestion Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to Waste management, manage waste or to produce fuels. Mu ...

founded in 2007. In 2015, the company stopped developing methanisation projects because the operation of its plants was too costly due to the low quality of the agricultural waste delivered. In 2018, it sold its three operating methanisation units to the specialist company Evergaz. The company is often confronted with strikes by its staff in thermal power plants in overseas France.

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

cut off the connection to the Caribbean grid of some solar photovoltaic plants in 2017, but the thermal plants continued to operate. In 2018, Impala's entry into Albioma's capital for 5% coincided with the purchase of

Eneco Eneco, the trading name of Eneco Groep N.V., is a producer and suppliers of natural gas, electricity and heat in the Netherlands, serving more than 2 million business and residential customers. Eneco headquarters are located in Rotterdam. It ...

's French branch and its 17 MW of solar capacity, notably for self-consumption.

Activities

The group, which operates in the

French Overseas Territories Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decolo ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, has been developing a partnership with the sugar industry for 20 years to produce renewable energy from

bagasse Bagasse ( ) is the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice. It is used as a biofuel for the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in the manufacture of pulp and building ...

, the fibrous residue of

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

. Albioma is also the leading producer of photovoltaic energy in the French overseas territories, where it builds and operates projects with storage. Albioma provides more than 60% of the electricity production in Réunion, 25% in Guadeloupe and 44% in

. It is one of the leading energy producers in the French overseas departments with power plants such as Le Galion in Martinique, CTM or Caraïbes-Énergie in Guadeloupe, the Bois Rouge plant or the Gol plant in Reunion. These plants, initially coal-fired, are currently being converted to biomass, thanks to a partnership with the National Forestry Office and the use of imported wood. Albioma is also building the first turbine running on bioethanol (the initial fuel also includes 20% light fuel oil) in 2018 (Saint-Pierre power plant).

Actionnaires

List of major shareholders as of 9 December 2021:ALBIOMA (ABIO)
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References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albioma Electric power companies of France Renewable energy companies of France French companies established in 1982 Energy companies established in 1982 Renewable resource companies established in 1982