In April 2015, the French government issued a “territorial call for applications and projects to contribute to the large-scale deployment of Smart Grids technology solutions”. Think Smartgrids welcomes the choice of the three winning regions that will allow the French industry to pass an important milestone in its development.
Two mans installing sola panels – Photo : Nuon on Flickr in CC
Ségolène Royal, Minister of the Environment, Energy and the Sea, in charge of international relations on the climate, and Emmanuel Macron, Minister of the Economy and the Digital Economy, recently announced the results of their call for proposals.
Having analysed the applications a panel of independent experts selected three projects: Flexgrid (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), Smile (Bretagne and Pays de la Loire) and You & Grid (Lille Metropol and Nord-Pas-de-Calais).
FLEXGRID (Provence-Alpes-Côte-dAzur)
The Flexgrid project, put in place by the PACA Region, brings together 27 regional projects and 5 transversal projects. It is a collaboration between the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis and Marseille Provence, the Agglomeration Community of Pays d’Aix, the Syndicat d’Agglomération Nouvelle Ouest Provence, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Department, the Serre-Ponçon Durance Ubaye region, the Provence Verdon Communauté de Communes, the institutions organizing the distribution of energy and the Capenergies and SCS competitiveness clusters. Drawing on previous pilots (CityOpt demonstrators, Premio, Nice Grid, Infinity Drive, Reflexe), the project partners include EDF and Orange, GE Grid (formerly Alstom), STMicroelectronics and CEA, the innovative SMEs and research and training centers. The region is characterised by varied climatic zones (cold, temperate and hot), coastal cities, the industrial and port areas, ski stations, neighborhoods with modest populations, electrically isolated areas. Its budget was estimated at € 200 million.
Thematic Flexgrid highlights are data management, integration of renewables, electric vehicles, storage and smart buildings. Particular importance was given to solutions for low-income populations, suffering in many cases from energy insecurity. Flexgrid also seeks to associate Smart Grids to the tourism sector, which is particularly important in the PACA region. This is conducted with specific partnerships with coastal cities and a ski resort.
SMILE (Bretagne et Pays-de-la-Loire)
The Smile project (Smart Ideas to Link Energies) is to build a large smart grid covering the departments of Morbihan, the Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Atlantique and the Vendée by 2020. It is carried by a consortium that brings together the regions of Brittany and Pays de la Loire, the cities of Rennes and Nantes, and 9 departmental unions for electricity distribution. The project builds on the Vendée and Solenn Smart Grid pilots. Besides the two clusters, Images & networks and S2E2, the project has brought together some 70 companies, including Cofely Ineo, Bouygues Energy & Services, Delta Dore, Schneider Electric and Spie. With the central axis located around the metropolis of Rennes and Nantes, the deployment area is representative of the diversity of energy situations encountered at national and European levels: a coastline (1380 km), touristic zones (with seasonal consumption peaks) Islands, ports and industrial areas. Its budget was estimated at 300 million.
The SMILE project stood out by the collaboration efforts and unprecedented level of collaboration between public and private actors which it gave rise to. The integration of renewable energies, the development of flexible solutions and citizen participation were at the heart of the approach. Other specificities, the subjects of marine energy, Smart Islands, electric mobility, interoperability and cybersecurity have been given particular attention.
YOU&GRID (Métropole Européenne de Lille et Nord-Pas-de-Calais)
The Nord Pas de Calais Region and Greater Lille (Lille Métropole) have mobilised several first rate industrial partners around the You & Grid project. This is based in part on the Campus Powergrid (run by the MEDEA Cluster). Its budget was estimated at 165 million euros.
The YOU & GRID project gave great importance to the scalability, or scaling up of these projects, with a view to allowing the replication of local projects on a global scale. Another aspect that has largely been addressed: multi-fluids, or multigrids, was at the heart of the approach of the project in the region. The YOU & GRID project also differs from the other projects by its strong urban component.
At the end of the application phase, 50 million Euros were mobilised as part of future investments to support these projects. In addition, the Flexgrid and Smile consortiums will benefit from a total of 80 million Euros of investment from the network operators RTE and ERDF for the transport and distribution needs of the electricity network.
The Smart Community Nord project, run by the Martinique Regional Council will benefit from appropriate support, within the framework of Martinique’s multi-annual energy planning.
The Think Smartgrids association is pleased to cover all of these innovative projects for during their deployment, with its expertise and overall vision of the Smart Grid sector in France.
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