Engie challenges award of Paris district heating concession to Dalkia-led consortium • Major district heating network planned south of Bordeaux under Idex concession • Talmont-Saint-Hilaire launches its first district heating network • Read more about the developments in sustainable heating and cooling in this month's news update from France
Engie has filed several legal appeals with the Paris administrative court contesting the decision to award the City of Paris’s district heating network concession to a consortium led by Dalkia, a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF. The move follows the Paris Council’s approval of the contract in December 2025, after more than two years of tendering.
The consortium with Dalkia, which also includes Eiffage and RATP Solutions Ville, was selected on 17 December to operate the network under a new 25-year concession starting on 1 January 2027. The contract is estimated to represent revenues of around EUR 15 billion over its duration. The decision brings to an end almost a century of operation by Engie and its predecessors, which have managed the network since 1927 through the Compagnie parisienne de chauffage urbain (CPCU).
Local newspapers confirm that Engie lodged the appeals at the end of the previous week, challenging the decision both on procedural grounds and on the substance of the financial assessment carried out by the City of Paris. One of the central points concerns the level of financial guarantees to be provided by the city as part of the creation of a dedicated mixed-economy company that will manage operations under the new concession.
News sources state that, according to Engie, Dalkia’s bid would benefit from financial guarantees from the City of Paris amounting to around EUR 2 billion, compared with approximately EUR 250 million EUR for Engie’s own proposal. The group argues that these differences were not sufficiently taken into account during the deliberations leading to the award.
A separate appeal relates to compliance with European competition and merger control rules. Engie questions whether all relevant procedures were properly observed in the selection process.
Read more in article from Le Monde
The largest district heating project in Nouvelle-Aquitaine is moving forward in the southern part of the Bordeaux metropolitan area, where Idex and its subsidiary Mixéner have been awarded a long-term concession to design, build and operate a new heat network known as Métropole Sud Énergies.
The concession, granted for a period of 30 years, covers parts of Pessac, Talence and Gradignan. Mixéner is jointly owned by Idex and Bordeaux Métropole Énergies and specialises in the delivery and operation of energy infrastructure and district heating systems. Construction is expected to begin in the coming months, with the installation of approximately 40 kilometres of new pipelines.
The total investment for the project is estimated at around EUR 134 million, representing roughly 20% of Idex’s annual investment volume. Once completed, the network is designed to supply heat to around 20,300 equivalent residential units, as well as major public and institutional buildings including university facilities, municipal buildings and the Haut-Lévêque and Xavier-Arnozan hospitals.
The main production site will be located near the university campus and will host the largest energy facility within the network. It will include two biomass boilers, a geothermal well and a biogas-fired backup system to ensure continuity of supply. Overall network capacity is expected to exceed 200 GWh per year.
Under the terms of the concession, Idex will oversee the full lifecycle of the project, from infrastructure deployment to long-term operation and maintenance of the network across the southern metropolitan area.
Read more in article from Sud Ouest
The municipality of Talmont-Saint-Hilaire in the Vendée department has begun construction of its first district heating network, with the installation of the initial pipeline completed on 18 December 2025. The project marks the commune’s first deployment of a collective heat network and is scheduled to enter service in autumn 2026.
The scheme is being developed by Sydev Chaleur, a public entity created at the end of 2024 by Sydev, the Vendée departmental energy authority. Sydev is acting both as project owner and operator, following its designation as a multi-network organising authority covering electricity, gas and heat.
Total investment in the project amounts to EUR 1 million. Of this sum, EUR 438,000 EUR is financed through the national Heat Fund managed by the French energy agency Ademe. Construction works began in November 2025.
The network will be based on a wood-fired boiler supplied by a local agricultural biomass chain, supplemented by a natural gas backup system. It will supply three public facilities in the Payré district: the Le Havre du Payré care home, a school complex and a multi-purpose childcare centre, allowing their heating needs to be pooled within a single local system.
Once operational, the network is expected to produce around 700 MWh of heat per year, with approximately 85% generated from biomass. The project represents the first phase of district heating development in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire and is intended to provide a stable, locally managed heat supply for municipal buildings.
Read more in article from Les Echos
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