France news update October 2021

In the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the ninth district heating network of the Saint-Etienne Métropole has now been inaugurated after being in construction since 2019 • Engie takes home the mega-contract of managing the cooling network in Paris after winning the call for tenders, delegated by the public services • The Métropole of Lyon officially introduces their new biomass boiler in Givors that have been modernized to run on wood energy, supplying nearly 2,700 housing units • Read more about the developments in sustainable heating and cooling in this month's news update from France

 

The ninth district heating network of the Saint-Etienne Métropole has now been inaugurated after being in construction since 2019 (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

The works concerned the city of Saint-Héand where a wood boiler was installed to supply 90 social housing units and a selection of private condominiums and municipal buildings. About 850,000 EUR has been invested in the project which will not have any short-term financial gains. However, the city has foreseen benefits in the medium-to long-term run due to the increased gas prices. The investment has, however, allowed for significant reduction in CO2 emissions as the network now only uses energy based on 5% gas and 95% wood chips. It does also strengthen and structure the wood-energy sector as it promotes the use of local resources and generates local job opportunities.

The Metropole’s district heating network now extends over 46km2. In total, it provides heat to 15,000 housing units. The local authority shows the ambition to invest (on mandate) more than 133 Mn EUR in project operations with economic and environmental interests.

Read more in article by DHC News

Read more in article by Lessor 42

Read more in article by If Saint Etienne

 

Engie takes home the mega-contract of managing the cooling network in Paris after winning the call for tenders, delegated by the public services

The validation of the 25-year long contract entails a sum of 2.4 Bn EUR in revenues with an estimated 16 Mn EUR in net profit. It will be managed by Engie’s subsidiary Climespace.

In 2024, the network and energy sector are also opting for a renewal of the system that supplies Paris with hot water, currently run by the joint subsidy CPCU (owned by the city of Paris and Engie). This renewal foresees an additional business volume of 10 Bn EUR – four times bigger than the new cooling contract. Engie already manages the Parisian gas and cooling networks through EDF and for the heating network, Engie is deemed a candidate as its own successor.

Read more in article by DHC News

Read more in article by Marianne

 

The Métropole of Lyon officially introduces their new biomass boiler in Givors that have been modernized to run on wood energy

The boiler unit supplies nearly 2,700 housing units and will help save 4,300 tons of CO2 per year. The renovation was managed by IDEX that invested around 10 Mn EUR with support from ADEME and the French Heat Fund. The heating network of Givors is now supplied by renewable energies at 74%, while the remaining 26% is covered by gas. This project allowed for a substantial extension of the network with a doubling of the energy distributed. 6 km of network was added, and 19 new buildings were connected. The wood fuel used in the boiler is supplied by wood waste collected within a radius of less than 40km from the boiler room, as well as wood from local forests and the management of urban parks that is supplied from within 100km in the Lyon area.

The Metropole has the objective to serve 200,000 housing units by 2026 (83,000 by 2020) with the help of the urban heating network, at a renewable energy and recovery rate at 65%. In order to reach these goals, 13 Mn EUR will be invested between 2021-2026 to support the energy transition and development of urban heating networks.

Read more in article by Lyon Capitale

Read more in article by Lyon en France

 

The boiler in the city of Giver’s urban heating network has been renovated and modernized and will now be fueled by biomass (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

The project involved a biomass boiler, a thermodynamic condense, a thermal storage and a gas boiler. The biomass boiler will be fueled by clean wood waste, transformed into fuel, and small quantities of natural gas. The wood used comes from the surroundings of the Métropole of Lyon, which limits the carbon footprint linked to the transport of heating material. 60% of the wood comes from forest maintenance or tree upkeep in surrounding parks (less than 100 km). The remaining 40% comes from wood waste such as untreated pallets or end-of-life packaging products. In total, the resources will help the network to be fueled by 74% of renewable energies.

The new infrastructure will supply 2,700 housing units in the city of Givors with hot water and heating and enables the reduction of CO2 emissions by up to 4,600 tons/year. It will be less expensive compared to alternative energy sources and offer more stable pricing than other heat production solutions. The metropolis already connects 250km of pipes and the authorities’ objective is to connect 200,000 housing units to the district heating network by 2026. This project was financed by Idex and ADEME via the Heat Fund.

Read more in article by DHC News

Read more in article by Met

 

 

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