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Cenon

Biomass power plant in Aquitaine, France. Approximate location 44.8544, -0.5215.

BiomassAquitaineFranceCO₂ measured

Cenon is a 4 MW biomass power plant in Aquitaine, France. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 5.5k homes (estimated). It ranks #1425 of 2,216 France power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2021, it is around 5 years old — recently built. Its annual emissions of 1,512 t CO₂/yr (EU ETS verified (EUTL 2023)) are equivalent to about 352 cars driven for a year. In context, biomass supplies about 1.8% of France's electricity; the national grid averages 41 gCO₂/kWh (94.9% low-carbon) (2025).

4Source-backed capacity
5,506homes powered (est.)
1,512t CO₂ / yr (EU ETS verified (EUTL 2023))
2021commissioned (~5 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1024983.

Data status

Known data

FacilityCenon WRI
CountryFrance · Aquitaine WRI
Coordinates44.8544, -0.5215 WRI
FuelBiomass WRI
MW installed capacity4 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
Commissioned2021 WRI
CO₂ emissions1,512 t CO₂/yr measured · EU ETS verified (EUTL 2023)

Official enrichment

Official statusEn service official source

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#1425 of 2216 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#64 of 158 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers1.38× · 3 MW median · 158 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent5,506 calculated
Climate12.9°C · HDD 2,009 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC3 · 32/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

OwnerNot available not in dataset
TechnologyNot available not in dataset
GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Data provenance

The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.

capacity: ODRE official registry; fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 4 MW, Cenon is well above the median biomass plant in France (3 MW). Biomass plants burn organic material such as wood, residues or waste-derived fuel to raise steam; they are dispatchable and counted as low-carbon where the feedstock is sustainably sourced.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

1,512 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

352passenger cars driven for a year
197homes' yearly energy use
25ktree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions per EU ETS verified (EUTL 2023) (measured for US EPA/EU ETS, modelled for Climate TRACE).

Capacity vs largest biomass plants in France

Ivry-Paris XIII power station: 64 MW64Ivry-Paris…Issy-les-Moulineaux: 55 MW55Issy-les-M…Isséane Waste-To-Energy power station: 52 MW52Isséane Wa…Morcenx: 45 MW45MorcenxFos-sur-Mer: 40 MW40Fos-sur-MerGolbey power station: 38 MW38Golbey pow…Tarascon power station: 37 MW37Tarascon p…Alizay Paper Mill power station: 30 MW30Alizay Pap…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Local climate & thermal context

This biomass plant burns organic material (wood, residues) to raise steam for a turbine. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 44.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

12.9°Cannual mean temp
2,009heating degree-days (base 18°C)
149cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
29 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 6 °CJF: 7 °CFM: 9 °CMA: 11 °CAM: 15 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 20 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 14 °CON: 9 °CND: 7 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 18% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 43/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

Site climate & environmental severity

For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

C3ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
32/100environmental-severity index
14.5°Cseasonal temperature swing
62 kmdistance to coast

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #64 largest biomass power plant of 158 in France by capacity.

France has 158 biomass power plants in this dataset, together about 1,184 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 44.8544, -0.5215 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Cenon?

Cenon is a 4 MW source-record biomass power plant in Aquitaine, France, commissioned in 2021.

How many homes can Cenon power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 5,506 homes (estimated).

How much CO₂ does Cenon emit?

Cenon has measured emissions of about 1,512 tonnes of CO₂ per year (EU ETS verified (EUTL 2023)).

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