Investments for the future program (PIA3): Alkern winner of the “Innov Avenir Filière” call for projects

This project aims to structure the miscanthus sector around a new factory capable of manufacturing new biosourced and low-carbon products for the building market. Worth an estimated amount of more than 8 million euros, it will be supported in equal shares by the State and the Region to the tune of 1 million euros, i.e. 2 million euros in total, half of which in the form grants and half in the form of recoverable advances.

For Mr. BABRE, Prefect of Eure: “This project is perfectly in line with the national challenges recalled by the President of the Republic in terms of carbon neutrality for 2050 and the emergence of new know-how and technological breakthroughs. The industrialization of a new process for producing low-carbon concrete blocks based on locally produced miscanthus aggregates will offer new solutions for construction combining energy performance and a low environmental footprint, while promoting the development of a future and a local economic ecosystem. For all these reasons, the State is happy to support this initial industrialization project financially after having supported the upstream engineering phase of the project. »

For the record, the regionalized sector PIA3 stands out by allowing the conduct of territorialized actions financed equally by the Normandy Region and the State. Launched in 2018, the call for projects (AAP) "Innov' Avenir Filières" aims to finance sector structuring projects, by allowing the companies making it up, the use of shared means of production or research infrastructures, the exchange of data and information, the sharing of technological and market visions as well as the initiation of shared commercial approaches.

At the end of the regional selection committee held in July 2022, the application submitted by the company ALKERN, a manufacturer of sustainable land development solutions based on precast concrete products, was named the winner of this call. to projects.

During an event organized on the industrial site today to celebrate this important first step, the various participants were able to share together the objectives pursued by the project. The construction of this new factory (located in the commune of 3 Lacs) equipped with a process unprecedented in France will make it possible to manufacture new bio-sourced building materials that are part of the zero net greenhouse gas emissions 2050 trajectory of the France. It is also a question of laying the first stone of a new miscanthus-based sector which will make it possible to anchor, with the agricultural community, an industrial activity based on the natural and renewable resources of the region.

Thanks to this project, Alkern will thus perpetuate 22 direct jobs (including 7 new ones) with a capacity to provide the construction of the equivalent of 3000 individual houses per year, or 4800 indirect jobs.

For all territories near the plant, it is an additional solution for their future eco-construction needs and already meets future regulatory developments of RE2020.

Indeed, thanks to a reduction of at least 40% in the carbon footprint of the blocks manufactured in this new factory, the annual savings will amount to between 2000 and 3000 tonnes of CO2. It is also necessary to add the 90% reduction in water consumption on construction sites and faster implementation to measure the benefits of such a project. The development of insulating products will not only bring a reduction in the energy consumption of buildings but also comfort in summer and winter for its occupants.

In addition, in order to support the transition towards more virtuous construction, the plant has been designed to easily alternate between the production of geo-sourced blocks or bio-sourced blocks. Alkern will thus be able to offer its customers a mix of constructive solutions (load-bearing or non-load-bearing walls) meeting the specific challenges of each project.

The creation of this sector will also serve to resolve key issues for other outlets, in particular a reference economic model and a response to the management of miscanthus storage (necessary to allow an annual resource to be matched with a regular production need) .

Finally, this project will make it possible to highlight this agro-resource as a relevant response to high-stakes areas (AAC) thanks to its very low input requirements; a solution to reconcile agronomic diversity, low carbon and control of water quality in this territory. The Alkern project will thus more generally allow a leverage effect towards the broader development of a sector based on this agro-resource through other industrial applications that are now emerging (automotive, cosmetics, green and biosourced chemistry, etc.). . It will thus offer farmers an additional economic outlet to diversify their production and their clientele.

For Mr. Morin, President of the Normandy Region: “Normandy benefits from high-potential economic sectors, highly creative and innovative activities with emblematic products and high-tech sectors, mostly backed by research centers of international stature. This call for projects won by Alkern testifies to the dynamism of Normandy companies in terms of innovation. It will also make it possible to develop a whole new sector for the agricultural sector. In an economy in perpetual motion, marked by innovations and new uses, the ability of a territory to innovate and experiment is decisive. This territorialized Future Investments Program is a real challenge for the people of Normandy! »