INEOS produces a cleaner Grenadier thanks to Biomass

The INEOS Grenadier, which is anything but a paragon of eco-friendliness, is becoming greener thanks to biomass.

In Hambach, at the French production plant of the INEOS Grenadier, an energy revolution is underway. This ultramodern factory, capable of producing up to 35,000 vehicles per year, is now reducing its carbon footprint by 8,800 tons of CO2 each year. The reason? A new biomass-powered boiler.

Since 2019, over 500 million euros have been invested to modernize the site. In five years, new workshops, a quality lab, a paint shop, and a facility to test the vehicles’ waterproofness have been established. These additions have increased energy consumption by 60%. Rather than seeing this as a setback, INEOS Automotive has turned this growth into an opportunity to adopt cleaner energy.

Wood shavings to power the factory

Biomass is the use of organic materials – here, wood shavings – to produce renewable energy. In Hambach, up to 14,000 tons of shavings from local and sustainable sources are burned each year. Two giant boilers convert this material into steam, which drives turbines to generate up to 9.2 megawatts of energy. This is equivalent to the consumption of 6,000 households, covering 75% of the site’s energy needs.

In addition to reducing the carbon footprint, the ashes from combustion are redistributed to local agriculture; rich in nitrates, they serve as natural fertilizer. This initiative is part of a broader program: for seven years, all the electricity on site has already come from renewable hydropower sources.

The new biomass boiler is therefore not just a technical addition, but a concrete proof of INEOS Automotive’s commitment to more sustainable production.

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