Idex, the French company specializing in energy services, has announced that the Public Establishment Paris-Sacaly (EEI) has entrusted it with the design, maintenance, operation and construction of the heating and cooling network in Paris Scaly, which will power the campus heating, cold and hot water and cooling.

The contract, which was signed between IDEX and the EEI, is of the order of  51.7 million euros excluding VAT and covers a period of seven years. According to Idex, the aim of the project is to supply energy to all newly constructed buildings between 2016 and 2022 using deep geothermal energy, which is 60% renewable and emits three times less CO2.

The EEI launched this project subsequent to the French  energy transition law, which was enacted on August 18, 2015. Idex claim that the heating system must be the first step in a “multi-energy smart grid” on the campus of Paris-Saclay. The company have put forward the idea that Paris-Saclay could become a technological showcase, as this kind of network constitutes a world first.

The intelligence of the system will be provided by a software platform which will control all levels: building optimization, distribution control and driving the energy production sites.

The EEI was established in 2010 and is responsible for the development of the forthcoming science and technology centre in the Saclay plateau south of Paris. The project includes 548,000 square metres of housing and about 500 000 m2 of educational buildings.