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Kick off of geothermal heating project in Champs-sur-Marne, France

Kick off of geothermal heating project in Champs-sur-Marne, France Chateau at Champs-sur-Marne, France (source: flickr/ Patrick Nouhailler, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 18 Feb 2019

With the launch of the public inquiry, the geothermal heating project at Champs-sur-Marne, a suburb in the east of Paris, France has been kicked off. Drilling is scheduled to begin this year for commissioning in 2021.

The public inquiry is launched. Drilling is scheduled to begin this year for commissioning in 2021.

The geothermal project at Cité Descartes, led by the Paris-Vallée-de-la-Marne community has been launched. A single public inquiry is now underway until March 16, 2019.

Signifying “heat of the earth”, geothermal energy has been present in Ile-de-France (the capital are of Paris) since the oil shocks of the 1970s. In the sector, boreholes and power stations have been operating in Chelles (since 1987) and Lognes (since 2011). There are others at Melun (1969), Le Mée (1978), Coulommiers (1979) and Meaux (1982).

The objective is to deploy an associated heat network in the municipalities of Champs-sur-Marne and Noisiel, with commissioning scheduled for September 2021. The operator will make an investment of up to EUR40 million.

“The energy simulations conducted lead to geothermal coverage rates estimated between 76% and 90%. The gas will complement the remaining 10 to 24%, “says Thierry Babec (PS), Deputy Mayor Maud Tallet (PCF), in charge of urban planning.

At first, it is a question of looking for a “geothermal cottage” with the Dogger, the main underground water table exploited in the Paris area. The perimeter extends over four communes: Champs-sur-Marne, Noisiel, Emerainville and Noisy-le-Grand (Seine-Saint-Denis).

The geothermal unit is between 1,500 and 2,000 m deep and contains water with a temperature of up to 85 ° C. When it rises to the surface, it comes out colder, at about 71 ° C.

The aquatic center heated by geothermal energy

Drilling is scheduled for 2019, with the installation of a geothermal doublet. The geothermal well will be located at Bois Carré, rue Alfred Nobel, in the heart of Cité Descartes, a sustainable city cluster.

“Of the 5,000 m2 of this wooded site, 3,000 m2 will be devoted to the maintenance of wells and the construction of the future geothermal power plant. The rest will be landscaped, “says Thierry Babec.

This energy transition project presents “the guarantee of a constant heating cost, very interesting for the inhabitant,” he adds. “It is too early to give figures, the market is on the agenda of the next community council April 4”, it is reported to the agglomeration community.

The future intercommunal aquatic center will be entirely heated by geothermal energy, as is the case at Villages Nature in Villeneuve-le-Comte. “The share of the network will be dedicated to 12%,” specify the services of Paris-Vallée-de-la-Marne.

In total, the energy consumption potential of the network is around 96 GWh. The operating license will be issued for an initial period of 30 years of operation without significant thermal decay.

Source: Le Parisien