The urban heating network which supplies several buildings in Perpignan (hospital Center, Arlette Franco aquatic area or even theCémoi chocolate factory) since 2019 via the Calce incinerator will be extended. The network will now serving Saint-Estève. The dealer who distributes the heat via this system was chosen this Monday in the community council, it is Dalkia, which is already piloting the first project. The principle is as follows: recover the heat produced by the combustion of waste from the incinerator to redistribute it through the pipes.
The investment, as for the first project, is carried by the RegionI’Ademe (Environment and Energy Management Agency), the metropolis of Perpignan and the department. It will cost more than 21 million euros. The works must allow the connection to the buildings of Saint Estève, that is to say to build the pipes which go from the incinerator of Calce to the infrastructures. About forty buildings will benefit from this heating network : schools, HLM bars or even gymnasiums. By the time this work is completed, commissioning will be complete in September 2024.
Savings “hard to quantify”
This solution is ecological, since it allows reduce air pollution thanks to the management of our waste. “It is a system that is proven for large structures such as clinics, gymnasiums, swimming pools and certain large buildings. On this heating network, 86% of the rate of energy is renewable and this represents an avoidance of 6,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. And for us, that represents 3,000 cars that would travel 15,000 kilometers per year that will be taken out of circulation. It is really a great opportunity by developing this tool, to work on our energy director path which aims for a very significant increase in renewable energies by 2050.“, Explain Marc MedinaVice-President responsible for sustainable development at the urban community of Perpignan.
As for the savings generated, “they are difficult to quantify“, we are told, but they would be in any case “impressive“. The Sydetom66the departmental union in charge of waste treatment, which manages part of the operations, estimates that this expansion might not be the last on the metropolis of Perpignan. But for the moment no other project of this type is yet officially in the cards.