They commit to climate

Not only an extraordinary territory, the Région wants to be on human-scale with its own specific realities. With its six “départments” (le Cher, l’Eure-et-Loir, l’Indre, l’Indre-et-Loire, le Loiret et le Loir- et-Cher), it is the sixth biggest region in France in terms of surface (40 000 km2). With two «métropoles » (the most symbolic and biggest cities) which have both of them more than 400 000 inhabitants (Tours and Orléans), the Région Centre-Val de Loire has a population of approximately 2.5 millions.

In 2019, the Région Centre-Val de Loire created the first regional COP and then accelerated its energy transition to drop sharply the energy consumption and double renewable energy production capacity by 2021.

Created in 1992, the European LIFE Programme is the European Union’s funding instrument for the Environment and Climate Actions. Thanks to this programme, more than 5 500 projects have taken shape throughout the whole Europe and the third countries. All of this with 9 billions euros. For the period 2014-2020, the budget was about 3,4 billions euros. For the next period 2021-2027, the European Commission would like to increase fundings by nearly 60%.

Here at ADEME – The French Agency for Ecological Transition – we are firmly committed to « fighting » global warming and the depletion of our natural resources. On all fronts, we mobilise citizens, economic actors and territories towards a fairer, more harmonious, low carbon and resource-efficient society. Whatever the field – energy, circular economy, food, mobility, air quality, adaptation to climate change, soils, etc. – we advise, facilitate and help finance many projects, from research to solutions sharing. At every level, our expertise and forecasting capacities serve to guide and inform public policies.

ADEME is a public agency under the joint authority of the Ministry for an Ecological Transition and the Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

REScoop.eu is the European federation of citizen energy cooperatives. We are a growing network of 1.900 cooperatives operating across Europe and jointly represent over 1,25 million citizens.

Through REScoop.eu, energy cooperatives wish to make their voices heard in the European energy debate. After all, their members – people just like you and me – are the ones who will be paying for the transition to a more sustainable energy system. REScoop.eu empowers citizens and cooperatives and wants to achieve energy democracy.

Our federation has four well-defined objectives :

• We represent the voice of citizens and energy cooperatives to European policy makers.
• We support starting and established energy cooperatives and provide them with tools andcontacts to help them grow and prosper.
• We facilitate international exchanges and cooperation between energy cooperatives.
• We promote the cooperative business model in the energy sector.

The French network of citizen renewable energy, our movement helps groups of citizens and local authorities throughout France to set up and finance renewable energy production means (i.e. solar panels, windturbines, micro-hydroelectricity, biomass energy, …). Our founding principles are : local integration, non-speculation, open and democratic governance, ecological requirements. They are also the basis for the Énergie Partagée certification label, granted only to renewable energy projects carried out in respect with these principles. Énergie Partagée also co-finances projects thanks to thousands of citizen shareholders who entrust their savings to us.

Map of all projects : https://energie-partagee.org/tous-les-projets/
Key indicators : https://energie-partagee.org/chiffres-cles/

Enedis has been an independent subsidiary of the EDF group since2008. It fairly manages the public electricity distribution network over 95% of French territory and carries out all technical interventions (connection to the electricity network, repair, meterreading, etc.), regardless of the customer’s electricity supplier.

GRDF is the leading manager of natural gas distribution networks in France, GRDF distributes natural gas each day to more than 11 million customers to ensure that they have gas when they need it, regardless of their supplier. This convenient, affordable, comfortable, and modern source of energy enables people to heat their homes, cook, and travel. To provide this public service, GRDF builds, operates, and maintains the largest transmission network in Europe (201,716km) and develops it in more than 9,500 municipalities.

With the rise of green gas, a renewable gas produced locally, the gas network is an essential link in the ecological transition. GRDF is an essential partner with territories to support them towards carbon neutrality through their choices of energy and sustainable mobility policies.

Bourges Plus is an urban community founded on October 21st 2002, located in the South-East of the Région Centre-Val de Loire, in the department of Cher. This intercommunal structure has 102 679 inhabitants and is the first urban center of the department , composed of 17 municipalities, for an area of 417 km2. The urban community territory consists mainly of agricultural lands (43%) and natural areas (40%). A specific characteristic is the dense river system at the confluence of two rivers : the Yèvre and Auron. This irrigated typography organizes the urban territory of the city center with 135 hectares of classified swamps. Swamps are used to market gardening and walking. An energy specifitity of the territory is a high production of biomethane, there are three biogas plants completed later by a new water treatment plant (which produce biogas too). To use this strategic configuration, all of the refuse collection trucks are fuelled with gaz, and half of the bus fleet too. In 2018, the entire energy consumption was about 2 540 GWh, or about 20 MWh/year/person (compared to 30 MWh/year/person for the Région Centre-Val de Loire). To support this dynamic, the urban community has recently adopted its PCAET – Plan for Climate, Air and Energy for the Territory).

For several decades, the municipalities in the south of the “Indre et Loire” department have been working to develop their territory while maintaining a pleasant living environment. In the south-east of Indre-et-Loire, Loches Sud Touraine brings together 67 municipalities and 51,376 inhabitants over 1,809 km2, the largest community territory in the Center-Val de Loire Region.

Rich with heritage that is natural, historical and cultural, the community of municipalities have worked for the protection of the environment and the implementation of actions for sustainable development.

In order to go further and meet national expectations, the Loches Sud Touraine community of municipalities has developed and implemented a “Plan Climat Air Énergie Territorial” (PCAET). During the preparation phase of this document, Loches Sud Touraine wished to set up a significant participatory citizen dynamic (consultation workshops, animation, etc.).

In parallel of this work, the territory participated in a regional experiment on citizen involvement concerning the challenges of energy transition. Workshops took place in the territory in 2019, bringing together 60 to 80 citizens.

While the overall development of renewable energy projects in the territory is growing, the following axes of the PCAET are to be developed:

• The emergence on the territory of citizen collectives that produce energy;
• Encourage the energy sobriety of citizens through information and awareness actions;

Building on its experimentation in 2019 and the objectives of the PCAET, Loches Sud Touraine is part of this project in order to see the emergence of “energy communities” on its territory and participate as well as raise awareness and allow citizens to take ownership of actions for energy sobriety.

The Pôle d’Equilibre Territorial et Rural (PETR) Pays Loire Beauce is a « territory of project » made up of two municipality communities (Terres du Val de Loire and Beauce Loirétaine), 48 municipalities and 66 000 people in the west of the Loiret.

Created in 1997 and then expanded and transformed in PETR following the MAPTAM law in 2017, the Pays Loire Beauce set objectives from the perspective of local development, proximity services and environmental quality. Starting with a development chart (1997-2015), following by an Agenda 21 – Territorial Climate Energy Plan, prepared and pursued since 2015.

Due to its strong role as a territorial facilitator, the Pays Loire Beauce federates public and private actors in a joint construction process during various awareness-raising and consultation events (development council, climate action group, cycle of conferences and movie-debates, etc.) to shape the future of the territory.

Provided with supports, financials and administratives skills, the Pays Loire Beauce supports its residents, communities, enterprises, associations and farmers in their responsible development projects (Regional Contract of Territorial Solidarity, A Vos ID and LEADER devices, Territorial Target Contract fo Renewable Energies, etc.).

Therefore it is with this objective of supporting its citizens towards local autonomy and resilience projects that de Pays Loire Beauce has joined forces with the Région Centre – Val de Loire and its partners in the LIFE project LetsGo4Climate.