First the cold, then the hot. After taking care of its cooling network in October, entrusted to Engie for twenty more years, the City of Paris is preparing to put the management of its heating network back into play. A mega-contract representing 8.5 billion to 10 billion euros in turnover over twenty-five years. “It’s a huge beast, which alone represents 20% of the French heating network market”, assesses Yves Lederer, boss of Coriance, one of the interested competitors. For the time being, however, Engie is also at the heart of the matter here, since its subsidiary CPCU has been operating this network since its inception, in 1927, and intends to retain this role.
The subject will be debated at the next Paris Council, from December 14. The elected officials concerned have a specific project in mind: to entrust the network again to a private partner, but within a fundamentally revised framework. Apart from Engie, several groups are studying the case, including the French Dalkia (EDF), Idex and Coriance. “The whole question is whether the city is really ready to change dealers, or if it just wants a little competition in the tender”, asks the president of Coriance. “As we have known the network for a long time, we are leaving with an advantage, we admit at Engie. But nothing is locked. “
Beyond the choice of the operator, it is the energy policy of the capital which is partly at stake in this affair. With a central question: since Paris has an exceptionally large heating network, how can we best use it to deal with climate change? The current reflections have their origin in a date: the current concession expires on December 31, 2024. Until then, the elected officials must prepare the new contract, and therefore decide what they want to do with this underground network, which supplies steam to some 5,900 customers, including all Parisian hospitals and 40% of tertiary buildings.
“Strategic for Paris and the energy transition”
In October, the city council provided a first response, adopting an ambitious “master plan”. “This network, which heats the equivalent of 500,000 homes, is strategic for Paris and the city’s energy transition”, argues Dan Lert, the environmental assistant in charge of the case. The PS-PC-Verts coalition, which heads Paris, therefore wishes to strengthen this network which, with more than 500 kilometers of underground pipes, already ranks first of its kind in France and among the very first in the world. The objective is to extend it by 12% by 2030, and by 46% by 2050. The number of customers must grow even faster, with an expected increase of 65% by 2050.
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