Field trips

During DEEPSURF International Conference, Wednesday 19, October is dedicated to field trips in the Grand Est region. When filling the registration form, you can choose the field trip of your choice, as long as the maximum number of participants is not reached. Transportation by bus and lunch are included in the field trips.

Please note: These field trips may be subject to changes (hours, organisation, contents, etc.). If field trips do not meet the required number of participants in each option, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to cancel the activity and will suggest another one.

Registration is now closed

#Field trip 1: Blénod thermal power station, agro-ecological and energy transitions with the Bouzule farm

Blénod thermal plant is deeply ancred in the Lorraine industrial legacy and a good example of energetic transition moving from a coal based thermal energy production to a combined cycle gas turbine plant.

In the afternoon, take a walk in the fresh air to visit Bouzule mixed polyculture-livestock experimental farm. At the interface between agro-ecological and energy transitions, Bouzule farm proposes one trajectory towards a sustainable agricultural activity, environmentally conscientious, socially responsible and in line with cutting-edge technological research. Its 300 ha cultured land and 200 milking cows and goats provide a wide open laboratory for research and innovation on culture and livestock as well as a relevant educational tool. Come visit this tomorrow’s sustainable farm with its industrial methanization platform and methanation laboratory.

#Field trip 2: From Koenigsmacker anhydrite quarry to Cattenom nuclear power plant

Put on your safety helmet for a morning below the surface! We will go visiting the still exploited underground anhydrite quarry in Koenigsmacker. Since the 1970s, this true natural mine of white-gray “gold” has provided 400.000 tons of calcium sulfate each year used for cement and/or fertilizer.

After an underground barbecue, you will be visiting the third largest nuclear power station in France – Cattenom. With a gross production capacity of 5.200 MWe, its four reactors cover 70% of the electrical need of the Great East region. Come and discover the engine rooms and exteriors before slipping into your safety gears to enter the controlled zone.

Registration modalities: Each visitor on site is subject to an administrative investigation. This is why a registration form requesting information for each participant will be sent by organisers. This information have to be sent at least 1 month before the date of the visit.

Information provided must be STRICTLY identical (to the nearest comma) to that appearing on the identity document presented on the day of the visit. Otherwise, people will not be able to access the facilities.

Access requirement: The day of the visit, all visitors need to provide with an ongoing passport or ID card (driving licence is not accepted), the same as the one used to fill the registration form. For countries outside the European Union, an ongoing passport is requested.

The visit is meant for adult public (minimum age required is 18)
Reduced mobility people or with difficulties to mode will not be able to enter the installation.
The access is unauthorized to people equipped with a cardiac pacemaker.
We put in place, at the exit of the site, very sensitive radiation detectors. If one of the visitors recently passed a nuclear medical examination (scintigraphy), he mght activate them when passing. It is, in this case, preferable to delay the visit.
As a precautionary measure, visits to the nuclear zone are not authorized for pregnant women.

#Field trip 3: Past oil exploitation and present geothermal energy in northern Alsace

Get to know the history of the first European oilfield, located in northern Alsace. Visit the French Oil Museum along with oil resurgences directly in the forest.

Enjoy a typical Alsacian lunch before visiting a geothermal plant in the Rhine Graben owned by the ÉS-Géothermie company. The geothermal loop currently includes a production well and two reinjection wells 5 km underground, for gross electricity production of approximately 1.7 MWe.

#Field trip 4: Past coal exploitation and present energy challenges in northern Lorraine

Discovery of the former coalfield in northern Lorraine, shaped by a century and a half of coal mining. The morning will be devoted to visiting the Explor Wendel museum in Petite Rosselle. The Explor Wendel Park makes up one of the largest and most complete complexes of coal mining buildings in Europe.

In the afternoon, a visit to the Emile Huchet coal-fired power plant in Carling will illustrate the evolution of the energy system within the framework of the energy transition.