INEOS Automotive Launches €15m Biomass Heat Plant to Power Sustainable Production at Hambach
INEOS Automotive has unveiled a state-of-the-art €15 million biomass heat plant at its Hambach production and assembly facility. Delivering 9.2 megawatts of output, this plant will consume up to 14,000 tonnes of locally and sustainably sourced woodchips annually, supplying 78% of the site’s heating requirements.
INEOS Automotive has invested over half a billion euros in Hambach since 2019. In the past five years, the facility has gained a new fully automated body shop, a semi-automated paintshop, a quality inspection laboratory, and a wading pool for water ingress testing. These upgrades have expanded the plant’s usable footprint by more than 60%, reaching 210,000 m², consequently increasing its heating needs.
The new biomass plant features two boilers with a combined thermal output of 8.4 MW, connected to an 800 KW heat pump. It supplies over three-quarters of the site’s heating demand, with an existing gas boiler meeting the balance. By switching to biomass, the site expects to cut around 8,800 tonnes of CO₂ annually. Waste ash is recycled locally via the agricultural sector, where its high nitrate content enriches fertiliser.
“Our ongoing investment in Hambach means our Grenadier and Quartermaster models are built to world-class quality standards, and in an environmentally sustainable factory, for export to over 50 sales markets worldwide,” said Lynn Calder, CEO of INEOS Automotive. “We’re very proud of the advanced facilities and its exceptional workforce, which together make it one of Europe's most advanced automotive production sites.”
President of INEOS Automotive SAS, Philippe Steyer, added: “The new biomass plant is the latest in a longstanding and ongoing programme of sustainability-driven initiatives at Hambach. We needed to increase our sustainable energy capacity to meet our growing consumption as the site expands.”
The Hambach Energy Transition project further reinforces the location’s commitment to sustainability. Supported by a €3.9 million grant from France’s ADEME (Agency for Environment & Energy Management) under the Heat Fund assistance and PNCEE (Pôle national des certificats d'économies d'énergie), the project also benefits from an agreement between INEOS Automotive and Dalkia, which is providing a grant of up to €1.5 million.
