Newheat: independent producer of renewable heat in France

An independent producer of renewable heat, Newheat supplies renewable heat generated directly on site to manufacturers aiming to decarbonise their operations and to heating network operators looking for greener solutions to produce the heating supplied by their systems. A pioneer in France, the company developed its first solar thermal projects in 2015. Its solid pipeline of projects will be financed by the equity investment as part of the second vintage of the SWIFT fund.

Pioneering renewable heat generation in France

Newheat develops, finances, builds and operates renewable heat generation projects, mainly using solar thermal technology combined with thermal storage facilities. Encompassing the entire value chain, Newheat covers project development, technical design, project financing and operation, as well as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC).

Founded in 2015, Newheat spearheaded the development of such projects in France and has since formed an experienced team of 45 employees, gradually honing its in-house technical expertise now recognised by a reputable client base. The company already operates five projects in France and has a healthy pipeline of projects in Europe, Chile and Australia.

Decarbonising the heating needs of manufacturers and buildings

Heat generation accounts for more than 40% of the world’s energy consumption, but more than 80% of it is still produced by fossil fuels. This represents a huge amount of energy that needs to be decarbonised. In recent years, government incentives and pressure from shareholders have pushed the sector in this direction. Newheat plays a key part in this shift by providing competitive solutions for customers that wish to phase out fossil fuels and limit their exposure to energy price fluctuations. Newheat’s value proposition is particularly attractive as its solution can be integrated into pre-existing industrial processes, facilitating its adoption as well as the transition to renewable heat.

An example of this is the Solthermalt project, whose goal is to decarbonise the industrial processes of global malting leader Boortmalt. Newheat has built a thermal solar power plant at the company’s industrial site in Issoudun to generate sustainable energy, which is used to pre-heat the air supplied in the malting process. This is Europe’s largest power plant supplying renewable heat to an industrial site, with a total capacity of 12 Mwth, annual production of 8,000 MWh and avoiding the emission of 2,200 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.