Haffner Energy positions itself on local energy for the Aether AI project in Strasbourg
In a publication dated October 13, 2026, Marcella Franchi, commercial director of Haffner Energy, detailed the role that the biomass thermolysis solutions designer from Vitry-le-François intends to play in the Aether Infrastructure project at the Rhine Port. The text links artificial intelligence sovereignty to access to locally produced energy.
Aether signed a preliminary sales contract for the FR-SXB2 site
The starting point of this communication is the signing, by Aether Infrastructure, of the preliminary sales contract for the FR-SXB2 site, located at the Rhine Port in Strasbourg. According to the publication, the project thus moves "from vision to realization".
The site covers approximately 90 hectares and includes 110,000 m² of existing industrial buildings. It is designed to bring together in one location an AI factory, server manufacturing, cloud infrastructure and local energy production.
Haffner Energy registers its participation in what it describes as a French and European industrial ecosystem. The teams from Aether, 2CRSi and Haffner Energy are cited as having contributed to the project.
Controllable electricity, cooling and biochar at the heart of the offering
Marcella Franchi highlights an "integrated approach": according to her, AI sovereignty is not limited to chips, servers or cloud capacity. It also requires access to energy that is "secure, competitive, resilient and increasingly low in carbon".
It is on this basis that Haffner Energy indicates it can intervene. Its biomass thermolysis solution can, according to the publication, provide renewable and controllable electricity produced on site, continuously, as well as cooling production through cogeneration. The biochar resulting from the process "could further improve the carbon balance".
The company presents the whole as a European industrial solution anchored in the Grand Est region, which combines digital sovereignty, energy sovereignty and decarbonization. The publication commends the role of Alain Wilmouth, originator of the Aether project, Jean-François Argence and Philippe Haffner, the latter having supported the project "from the start".
