French CMM Producer Says Flow Rate Improves

Tiny French coalmine methane (CMM) producer La Francaise de l'Energie (LFDE) said December 13 that the first Siemens motor at its Avion site, near Lens in northern France, is compressing gas better than expected.

Start-up of this first electric motor at end-November showed a 60% increase in gas flow rate compared with before and it consumed less electricity than forecast, said LFDE. It has since started up a second Siemens engine at Avion. 

Once a third is up and running, LFDE expects they will significantly double the Avion site’s annual turnover, which in its financial year from July 2017 to June 2018 amounted to €2.3mn ($2.6mn) from its CMM sales plus €1.3mn from electricity. Gas is sold to Total and the power to EDF. The French state pays LFDE a 'green' feed-in tariff on its power sales, on the basis that the CMM generation fuel might have leaked from mines into the atmosphere without LFDE's intervention.  LFDE recently reported a 13% year on year increase in its July-September turnover.