Toulon, France

The City of Toulon

Toulon is a large port on the Mediterranean coast and a city on the French Riviera. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department. The population of the greater urban area is 559,421 inhabitants. The city has a naval base and is an important centre for naval construction, fishing, winemaking, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment.

The Demonstrator

The French demonstrator is operated by Dalkia, together with EDF, and is located at La Seyne-sur-Mer, in Toulon. It consists of an updated neutral-temperature DHC network. The demonstrator aims to achieve the following goals:

• Implementation of smart monitoring and control hardware/software to optimise the performance of the network
• Utilisation of decentralized PV panels combined with multiple storage solutions to reduce electricity consumption from the grid
• Implementation of innovative contractual arrangements with customers, enabling demand-side management

The DHC network has been operational since 2008 and will be extended during the years of the project. The main neutral-temperature network is used for both DH and DC and operates at a temperature between 7-29°C. The temperature varies throughout the year depending on the seawater temperature and the balance between the heating and cooling loads.

The DHC network makes use of widely accessible renewable energy from seawater.Natural gas is used for sanitary hot water production in some substations, with the intention of switching to biogas in the next years. A PV installation is foreseen to be deployed during the elaboration of the project. The number of customers served by the network will increase from 4 in 2020 to around 20 in 2023, by connecting both new and existing public (schools, universities), tertiary and residential buildings.