Gecina, Accenta and Idex join forces for an innovative borehole thermal energy storage project in Ville d’Avray (92)
Gecina, a leading French real estate group, is announcing that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Accenta and Idex, the benchmark operator on the local low-carbon energy market, to decarbonize the Les Cèdres residence in Ville d’Avray (92). This project involves installing a borehole thermal energy storage solution combined with heat pumps, the first initiative on such a scale in France. The aim is to significantly reduce this residential complex’s CO2 emissions and ensure better control over costs, thanks to reduced dependence on gas.
Innovative project supporting environmental performance
With 555 homes spread across nine buildings and a total of over 40,000 sq.m, the Les Cèdres residence will benefit from an innovative heating network incorporating a borehole thermal energy storage solution and air-source heat pumps. Thanks to this cutting-edge solution, the project is expected to deliver an 86% reduction in CO2 emissions, saving nearly 700 tons of CO2 per year compared with a biogas heating system and up to 1,800 tons (around 3.5 tons per household*) compared with traditional gas.
This project is fully aligned with Gecina’s CAN0P-2030 plan, which aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions across its operational real estate portfolio by 2030.
Unique partnership for sustainable energy solutions
Accenta and Idex, innovative energy solution experts, will replace the existing carbonized energy production and distribution arrangements with a heating network based on geothermal production. The bespoke installation designed by Accenta will feature 69 geothermal probes, drilled to a depth of 300 meters, to store heat during the summer and release it during the winter, optimizing the management of energy resources throughout the year. This installation will also include a geothermal heat pump. Lastly, the system will be managed by Accenta’s learning and predictive control solution to inject and extract heat from the ground to ensure long-term energy performance.
Pioneering project in France
This partnership is the first of its kind in France due to the scale of the project and the complexity of the work, carried out at a site that is already occupied. It also reflects the stronger collaboration developed between Gecina and Idex, who were already partners on an initiative to connect a Gecina residence to the ZAC Seguin-Rives heating network in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Marie Lalande-Dauger, Executive Director of Engineering and CSR at Gecina: “This partnership with Accenta and Idex and this project in Ville d’Avray highlight our ongoing drive to find sustainable and innovative energy solutions with a view to improving both the comfort of our clients and the energy and environmental performance of our buildings. Energy efficiency will always guide our choices at every stage, from designing to operating our buildings, and we engage our teams, our clients and our providers to play an active role within this transition”.
Jacques Ripoll, Managing Director of Accenta: “The fact that a firm like Gecina has chosen Accenta’s energy solution, following an in-depth analysis of the various possible solutions for decarbonization, confirms the vast potential of borehole thermal energy storage. Through its scale and its ambition for decarbonization, this partnership illustrates the strength of the alliance between Idex and Accenta to support Gecina, and represents a major step forward with the energy transition for buildings in France”.
Benjamin Fremaux, Chief Executive Officer of Idex: “We are delighted to once again support Gecina with the decarbonization of their real estate portfolio. This project perfectly illustrates how Idex can effectively accompany its clients through turnkey solutions based on innovative technologies. We believe that surface geothermal power is a particularly efficient technique from both an environmental and an economic perspective. Thank you to Gecina for once again placing their trust in us”.
The drilling and connection work will begin as soon as the necessary administrative authorizations are obtained, with the heating network scheduled to be brought into service during the second half of 2026.
As a specialist for centrality and uses, Gecina operates innovative and sustainable living spaces. A real estate investment company, Gecina owns, manages and develops a unique portfolio at the heart of the Paris Region’s central areas, with more than 1.2 million sq.m of offices and more than 9,000 housing units, almost three-quarters of which are located in Paris City or Neuilly-sur-Seine. These portfolios are valued at 17.1 billion euros at end-June 2024.
Gecina has firmly established its focus on innovation and its human approach at the heart of its strategy to create value and deliver on its purpose: “Empowering shared human experiences at the heart of our sustainable spaces”. For our 100,000 clients, this ambition is supported by our client-centric brand YouFirst. It is also positioned at the heart of Utiles Ensemble, our program setting out our solidarity-based commitments to the environment, to people and to the quality of life in cities.
Gecina is a French real estate investment trust (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris, and is part of the SBF 120, CAC Next 20, CAC Large 60 and CAC 40 ESG indices. Gecina is also recognized as one of the top-performing companies in its industry by leading sustainability benchmarks and rankings (GRESB, Sustainalytics, MSCI, ISS-ESG and CDP).
Accenta is an innovative firm driving the decarbonization of heating and cooling for tertiary, public and industrial buildings and collective housing. Since being founded in 2016 with the ambition to deploy borehole thermal energy storage on a wide scale, Accenta has developed an integrated range of solutions to reduce, optimize and decarbonize energy consumption and CO2 emissions linked to building heating and cooling. Specifically, it has developed learning and predictive control systems to ensure long-term energy performance. Built around a model that includes performance guarantees and financing, Accenta’s solutions simplify the large-scale decarbonization of buildings. Accenta is trusted by a range of organizations, from businesses like AG2R, Eurovia, Fnac Darty, Icade, Prologis and Union Investment, to municipalities such as the city of Roubaix.
For more information, visit www.accenta.ai
Founded in France in 1963, the IDEX group, with over 6,200 employees, develops, designs, finances, builds and operates local, low-carbon energy infrastructures to supply heat and electricity to buildings, cities and industry.
With revenues of €2 billion in 2022, IDEX is the only vertically integrated operator on the market today across the entire local energy value chain. Its activities range from the production of thermal or electrical energy from local, low-carbon energy resources (waste, biomass, geothermal, solar) to the distribution of this energy through heating and cooling networks, and the optimization of its end use in industrial, residential and tertiary buildings.
For more information, visit www.idex.fr
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Contacts
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Glenn Domingues
Director of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications
