France news update November 2022

Conference on Decarbonization through sustainable heating and cooling at the Swedish Embassy in Paris • Small energy revolution by Idex at la Défense (Île-de-France) • A 100% renewable heating network in Lunéville (Grand Est) • Read more about the developments in sustainable heating and cooling in this month's news update from France

SHC arranged a conference on ‘Decarbonization through sustainable heating and cooling’ at the Swedish Embassy in Paris (Île-de-France)

On October 13th, Sustainable Heating and Cooling by Sweden arranged a conference on “Decarbonization through sustainable heating and cooling” at the Embassy of Sweden in Paris. The two main thematics of the conference were “Decarbonization and Energy Sobriety” and “Renewable energy in district and cooling, the opportunities and challenges of biomass”. 

The aim was to bring together French and Swedish stakeholders in the heating and cooling sectors. 40+ stakeholders from Swedish and French organizations participated in the conference and network lunch to discuss challenges and opportunities for sustainable heating and cooling. The event had four keynote speakers; Stockholm Exergi, Engie, Svebio, and Idex, and two panel discussions with representatives from Energy Opticon AB, NODA Intelligent Systems, Utilifeed, BKtech Sweden, Petrobio, Radscan AB, and WTS AB, that discussed how to optimize heating and cooling through smart and sustainable solutions.   

Success factors elaborated on during the panel discussions were data-driven energy, supply and demand driven energy, standardized/modularized solutions to optimize deployment time and technologies for multi-energy use / the efficient use of biomass.

Read more in post at LinkedIn

A small energy revolution by Idex at La Défense outside Paris (Ile-de-France) 

The densest heating network in France is being transformed to become more environmentally friendly and will use biofuels to heat 3.5 million square meters of offices, shops and homes in the business district of la Défense outside of Paris, starting next year.  

Having switched from coal to fuel oil, and then partly to biofuel in 2015, Europe’s largest business district will switch to green energy in the first quarter of 2023 thanks to agropellets and biofuels made from agricultural waste (rapeseed or corn straw, walnut shells, olive pits, etc). Idex, on concession contract until 2032, is responsible for the project which is one of the first in France to use this energy source. Idex operates the network through its subsidiary Enertherm. 

The transformation project includes a storage area of 1,500 cubic meters to help meet heating during periods of extreme cold. If necessary, a biofuel boiler will be used as a complement. The first tests will be carried out at the beginning of 2023 with the aim of having an operational system at the end of the first quarter.  

Read more in article from Les Echos

Read more in article from Idex

A 100% renewable energy heating network ine Lunéville (Grand Est)

On the 10th of October, Catherine Paillard, Mayor of Lunéville, and Benoît Dujardin, Director of Dalkia in the Eastern Region, signed the 25-year public service delegation agreement for the construction, financing, and operation of the town’s new 100% wood-fired heating network. 

An 8.5 MW biomass heating plant will be built and use nearly 16,000 tons of wood-energy (forestry chips/pellets) locally sourced from forests within a radius of less than 100 km. To compensate for the CO2 emissions linked to the transport of the biomass, a forest plantation of 2 to 3 hectares will be carried out in partnership with the company STOCK CO2. 

A network of pipes of nearly 12 km will be built from January 2023 and will eventually provide heating to more than 50 delivery points: public and private buildings, health care facilities, schools, and collective housing. This district heating network will allow subscribers to benefit from a reduced VAT rate of 5.5%, due to the use of > 50% of renewable energy, thus offering a stable and competitive price over the long term.  

The official commissioning of this new public service is scheduled for September 2024 by Dalkia, who invests 21.8 MEUR. The project is also supported by 6.9 MEUR from ADEME’s Heat fund “le Fonds Chaleur”, which will provide €6.9 MEUR, and funding from the Energy Savings Certificate (CEE) scheme. 

Read more in article from Dalkia

Read more in article from Bio Energie

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Sweden is at the forefront of decentralised heat networks technology. Our aim for “Sustainable Heating & Cooling by Sweden” is to facilitate knowledge sharing between British, French and Swedish stakeholders and develop and encourage environmental and economic best practice.

To find out how we can help you and your organisation, please contact our London or Paris-based “SHC” teams. We can introduce you to leading consultants, suppliers of technology and services who will be pleased to share know-how of the development of sustainable heating & cooling solutions.

 

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