In Toulouse, Evotec connects to the heating network and drastically reduces its carbon footprint
The occupant of the former Sanofi premises in Toulouse is taking a step forward in his ecological transition. The German group Evotec has just inaugurated its connection to the local heating network for its Toulouse site, where nearly 800 employees worked daily. “It is one of the biggest sites of Evotec“, specifies Pierre Cooremans, Managing Director France of Evotec.
According to Dalkia, which manages the Toulouse Métropole heating network, this connection alone will prevent the release of 2,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. “We are going to reduce the carbon footprint of our site by 40% and that of the group by 6% with this development. We want to reduce our carbon impact by 50% by 2030 and achieve neutrality“, explains Thibault Piguet, the technical director of Evotec France.
Until now, this major industrial site in the Pink City was heated by gas boilers. Consequently, Evotec saw its energy bill soar and it’s not over. “We will pay several million additional euros in 2023“, informs Pierre Cooremans. This connection to the heating network is therefore a boon for the German, who will also produce cold from next summer, with this energy via an absorption chiller .
Pierre Cooremans hopes to contain the surge in his energy bill with this new source of supply (Credits: Rémi Benoit).
In service since 2019
Evotec is not the first player to be the subject of such a connection in Toulouse. Newly the Cnes does the same, as does the Toulouse University Hospital, or the premises of the regional council of Occitanie. Several thousand social housing units are also associated with this network. As a reminder, this is powered by the incineration of waste within the Mirail unit and for a small part by the heat generated by Météo France’s supercomputers based in the Montaudran district.
“This heating network was commissioned in 2019, with the aim of avoiding the release of 19,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, while producing 120 gigawatt hours. By the end of 2022, we will already be at 90 gigawatt hours”, explains Valérie Patron, the general manager of Dalkia in the South-West.
According to data shared by Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse and president of the Metropolis, a total of 36 kilometers of pipes have been deployed for this heating network in three years. “It’s a good thing that companies are akin to this. Everyone must play their part in the ecological transition, although the police must play a role in training on this issue.“, adds the edile.
The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, welcomes private smokers who are part of the ecological transition (Credits: Rémi Benoit).
A consultation recently completed
In the long term, this figure for the deployment of the heating network should be revised upwards since Evotec does not hide its intention of also connecting its future biomedicines factory to it, the first stone of which was recently laid in Toulouse. In the second half of 2023, 200 new jobs should be generated by the start of production.
Nevertheless, some doubts remain about the energy supply of these industrial sites connected to the Toulouse heating network. First of all, a consultation has just been completed concerning the future of the Toulouse-Mirail energy recovery unit. Should it be renovated on site, or relocated? Another question, with what energy production capacity? Although the population is increasing locally, public policies are working on reducing the waste generated.