Case study

Guyot Énergies

Innovation at the service of waste recovery in the French regions

Épopée Gestion and the GUYOT group are joining forces to support the development of GUYOT énergies, a company dedicated to waste-to-energy conversion.

 

The operation represents a total investment of €30 million, enabling GUYOT énergies to support an ambitious deployment plan for the next five years. The company designs and operates energy production units using fuels derived from non-recyclable waste, in particular that collected by GUYOT environnement, another subsidiary of the GUYOT Group.

Whether it is recycled wood (biomass) or waste residues (Solid Recovered Fuels – SRF), these materials can become a source of low-carbon energy that is competitive with fossil fuels, while enabling their sustainable recovery.

Founded in 2020, GUYOT Energies, a subsidiary of the Brest (France)-based GUYOT group, aims to design and operate energy production units to recover biomass and SRF collected and processed by GUYOT Environnement. To support its development, Épopée Gestion and the GUYOT group are allocating a budget of €30 million, to be deployed over the next five years. Beneficial in terms of both climate and regional development, Épopée Gestion’s investment is being made through its Épopée Infra Climate I fund, whose aim is to contribute to the decarbonisation of the French economy.

Two projects already under construction

The first was inaugurated in April 2025 in Créhen (Côtes d’Armor department). It is a biomass boiler that produces steam from end-of-life wood. In 2026, this facility will supply heat to a factory owned by the Laïta dairy cooperative, known in particular for its production of Madame Loïk whipped cheese (category leader in France). It will prevent the emission of 12,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year by supplying Laïta with low-carbon heat produced from local fuel.

GUYOT énergies’ second project, scheduled to come on stream in Brest in 2027, will be the first SRF-based heat production unit in Brittany (France), a region lacking in solutions for treating non-recyclable waste. According to ADEME (the French agency for ecological transition), by 2030 only 35% of the SRF produced in Brittany will be treated in the region. There is therefore vast potential to be exploited.

Key Figures

  • €30M invested
  • 2 projects already under construction
  • 57k tonnes of recycled waste recovered per year
  • 142,6 GWh of heat produced per year
    • 85 GWh for the Brest plant
    • 57,6 GWh for the Créhen plant
  • 14k Equivalent to the average annual consumption of 14k French households (10 MWh/year)

An urgent need to make better use of waste in France

ADEME estimates that the volume of wood waste will triple in France within five years. Currently, of the 7.4 million tonnes collected each year, barely more than half is recycled. The rest is either stored or landfilled (22%) or sent abroad (26%). As for non-hazardous residues converted into SRF, their production – 555,000 tonnes in 2024 – could reach 4 million tonnes by 2030 (Source: Federec). These volumes must be recovered to contribute to the energy transition of the French regions.

From a local partnership to strong, sustainable growth in France and beyond. Ronan Le Moal and Erwan Guyot explain the challenges of an emblematic partnership with a significant impact on the French regions, innovation and the environment.

Ronan Le Moal

Cofounder and CEO Épopée Gestion

  • Can you tell us about the origins of this project and what it means for your respective companies?

    Ronan Le Moal : This project is particularly important for Épopée Gestion because it embodies our vision and our commitments. It illustrates our core belief: to boost businesses in the regions by investing in and supporting their projects from start to finish. The GUYOT group, which has been rooted in the Brittany region (where Épopée is headquartered) for four decades, is the story of an iconic family saga and the kind of industrial success we love to see! Starting out in metal and waste recovery, the group has successfully diversified its activities. Erwan Guyot embodies the new generation of entrepreneurs that Brittany needs. Today, he heads a flagship waste recovery company with the capacity for national and even international development, while remaining rooted in his region.

    Erwan Guyot : This project symbolises our roots in Brittany, our desire to ensure the long-term development of our company and our resilience to the ups and downs of time. For 40 years, our group has been collecting waste and ferrous and non-ferrous metals. With our characteristic boldness, we have kept pace with all the developments in the sorting, collection and recovery industry. We continue to do so with ambitious projects for boiler rooms running on fuels derived from locally collected waste.

Erwan Guyot

Chairman and CEO Guyot Group

  • How do these projects promote environmental transition?

    EG : The projects we are developing have a single goal: to not leave our children with the responsibility of the waste generated by our current consumption. To achieve this, we transform the non-recyclable waste we collect into fuel. This fuel is then used to power energy production units that supply local industries with steam, hot water and/or electricity in a purely circular economy approach. Overall, non-recyclable waste collected by GUYOT environnement will be recycled by GUYOT énergies in the form of local fuel, replacing traditional fossil fuels. In addition to contributing to France’s energy transition, this also has the advantage of addressing the current issues of energy sovereignty and energy cost control, which have been exacerbated since the start of the war in Ukraine.

    RLM : Épopée Gestion approached the GUYOT group with the aim of giving it time to roll out this new strategic focus: this is a long-term partnership. The first projects will be launched in Créhen (in the Côtes d’Armor department), with a biomass boiler, then in the port of Brest, with a facility that will supply steam from recovered solid fuels. They have emerged in our region, but others could be deployed in western France, throughout France and beyond.

  • What are GUYOT énergies’ development capabilities?

    RLM : GUYOT énergies naturally aims to optimise the collection products of GUYOT environnement. But there is currently twice as much waste to be recycled as there is processing capacity on the market. GUYOT énergies is therefore a player with very good prospects, also able to position itself in the recovery of waste from other suppliers.

    EG : GUYOT énergies offers solutions that directly meet France’s objective of reducing landfill by more than 50% by 2027. We are convinced that our low-carbon energy production infrastructure is well-suited to meet this major challenge. The support of Épopée Gestion will enable us to expand our presence throughout France, drawing in particular on the Praxy network, of which we are already a member, as well as in Spain.

A first biomass plant set up in Créhen to supply the Laïta cooperative

The project involves the installation of a biomass plant near the Laita site in Créhen (22), a subsidiary of the Even group. It will supply steam to the various dairy processing workshops, including the drying tower that manufactures milk powder, using end-of-life wood collected and converted into fuel by GUYOT environnement. The boiler, with a capacity of 9 megawatts (equivalent to the energy needed to heat more than 5,600 homes), will cover 70% of the site’s steam requirements, replacing natural gas. It will halve the carbon footprint of milk processing activities at the Laita site in Créhen. A grant has been awarded by ADEME.

« Creating wealth in the French regions »

Jérôme Dancoisne

Deputy Regional Director at ADEME Brittany

« The project developed by GUYOT énergies in Créhen is a particularly successful example of energy transition applied to the industrial fabric of Brittany. In a context of high energy price volatility this solution provides the factory with local, stable and sustainable energy. This is precisely the type of investment that the State, via ADEME, wishes to support: a €16 million project, backed by more than €4 million in State aid, which combines environmental performance, industrial competitiveness and the valorisation of local ressources. By transforming regional waste into useful energy, this plant helps to strengthen Brittany’s energy sovereignty and create value locally. It is a virtuous and replicable model that serves to make industry more resilient. »

« The Even group is proud to
join forces with GUYOT, a major
player in the economy of the
Brittany region, and thus be
the first industrialist to benefit
from its expertise in carbonfree
energy production to
support the energy transition
of our dairy activities. »

Christian Griner,

CEO of Even

The positive externalities
of the GUYOT énergies project