Energy for industry and the regions. With €313 million in investments and €185 million in purchases in 2021, 2,500 employees, 150 people trained under work-study programmes each year, 2,000 indirect jobs created, 2.9 million customers and 27 concession contracts signed with energy distribution authorities, Enedis is a key player in regional employment, regional development, ecological transition and regional planning, as well as a major industrial operator in the public service. Thierry PAGES, Regional Director, tells us about it with enthusiasm.
Enedis Nord-Pas de Calais
Enedis, a key player in regional development, provides power and connects new facilities to the distribution network, as demonstrated by two major projects in the region: CAP 2020, supported by the Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque (GPMD), and E-Valley.
Totalling 350 hectares of logistics zones, CAP 2020 concerns the construction of a deepwater port which aims to multiply by 7 the number of containers to be received by 2032 and attract international shipping companies to Dunkirk. The need to offer potential customers a turnkey solution, including the provision of power, was made concrete by the signing of a quadripartite agreement on 24/01/2019, in which Enedis and RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Electricité) undertook to build an electrical substation “in advance” within 3 years. An industrial challenge that has been met: the first customers are arriving, including Clarebout Potatoes and Verkor, a battery producer. The capacity of the substation will soon be increased with the installation of a second 70-megawatt transformer.
Mr. Pagès
E-valley is the largest e-logistics base in Europe, built on the site of the former 103 Cambrai-Epinoy air base to serve as a hub with its 320 hectares, 550,000 m² of warehouses and 300,000 m² of land reserves. Its power supply meets the development challenges of the area and anticipates the medium-term connection with the largest intermodal platform of Marquion of the Seine-Northern Europe Canal, whose works should be completed in 2028. La Redoute has announced that it will move to the site this year.
Enedis, a key player in the ecological transition
Enedis integrates nearly 95% of the renewable energy produced in Hauts-de-France into the public distribution network, i.e. nearly 5,300 MW of wind power and 350 MW of solar power. The public distribution network and its Linky infrastructure are also at the heart of the development of new uses of electricity: electric mobility and connection of terminals, development of individual and collective self-consumption, and tomorrow’s development of local energy communities pooling production and consumption of electricity.
Enedis in Hauts-de-France is the national leader in this area with nearly thirty projects underway. The data collected from Linky meters also enables it to offer local authorities a range of regulated services to support public policies to combat fuel poverty, energy renovation and regional planning.
Innovation and Smart Grids
Ranked first in the Smart Grid Index, Enedis is the world leader in electricity distribution. This leadership is supported in the region by several demonstrators: So Mel So Connected, piloted by the European Metropolis of Lille, Groupee 4.0, which tests a “Vehicle To Grid” model, and Reflex, which aims to massively integrate renewable energies into the grid in the Somme and develop new flexibilities.
Regional development and circular economy
Finally, Enedis acts in accordance with the guidelines of the Third Industrial Revolution programme (REV3), promoted by the President of the Region Xavier Bertrand. This is illustrated by the installation of Very High-Speed fibre optic cable as a common support in order to reinforce the attractiveness of the territories and to generate economies of scale for the local authorities of the order of €200 million.
Enedis is also very involved with start-ups such as HIVE Electric: created in 2019, this young company is potentially a “Game Changer” in the battery market thanks to a lithium-iron-phosphate transition technology and a metal-ion breakthrough technology. Enedis is also working in a spirit of circular economy via the development of local recycling channels. A global commitment!
Enedis
Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Directorate
174 avenue de la République
F-59110 La Madeleine
https://www.enedis.fr/enedis-en-nord-pas-de-calais
Originally published in ©Parlementaires de France Magazine, now ©Research Innov France.
