The Athletes’ Village will be exemplary when it comes to energy consumption, as can be seen from the connection of the future district to the heating and cooling network SMIREC (Combined Heat Energy Association), managed by Plaine Commune Energie, a 100% subsidiary of Engie Solutions. This company is based essentially on local and renewable energy, with the majority of the energy coming from geothermal sources.

Reducing the energy bill of the future neighbourhood and preparing for climate change

The Athletes’ Village will benefit from local and renewable energy, 68% of which will come from near-to-surface geothermal energy. For this, 11 one-hundred-metre deep wells will be drilled to use the energy of the earth and convert it into heat. The energy that will complement the geothermal energy will come mainly from the network of the Compagnie Parisienne de Chauffage Urbain (CPCU), located nearby and itself supplied mainly by local and renewable energy.

The cooling network will only be put into place if climate change requires it. In fact, with the current climate, the bioclimatic design of the buildings will ensure comfort for the future users in the summer months without the use of a cooling network. However, thanks to the partnership agreed with SMIREC, technical arrangements have been made so that the Athletes’ Village will be able to benefit from a cooling network in the event that the climate makes this necessary between now and 2050.

A comprehensive area-wide strategy

In total, some 600,000 m² of buildings will benefit from the extension of the network, since other projects such as the Tour Pleyel and Lumières Pleyel will also be connected to it.

The objective of the extension of this network, which is already the largest in the department and the second largest in the region, is to offer an area-wide long-lasting shared urban heating solution.

This extension across the Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine area is the fruit of a tripartite agreement signed in June 2020 by SOLIDEO, SMIREC and Engie Solutions. The drilling work will start at the end of 2020 and will be carried out by Engie Solutions via their subsidiary Plaine Commune Energie.

© SOLIDEO / Sennse – Dronepress