Posted Sep 29, 2022, 9:02 AM
Meeting in the agglomeration council at the start of the week, the elected officials of Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration (M2A), in the Haut-Rhin, presented energy saving measures. The community has done its accounts: its gas and electricity expenditure should increase by 3.8 million euros in 2023. This is the consequence of increases of 70% for electricity, and 370% for gas, at current rates. When the amount of the bill becomes clear at the end of the year, occasional closures of public facilities (swimming pools, ice rink, etc.) could be considered.
In the meantime, the community intends to reduce the consumption of fluids in the buildings it manages, by lowering the temperature, optimizing the use of heating, or developing teleworking. Referents will accompany the measures and explain the approach to users on the various sites.
At the same time, Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration continues to invest in the insulation of public buildings and the replacement of lighting with LEDs, as well as in remote management equipment to optimize energy consumption. The community wants to reduce its consumption by 10 to 15% with these measures. “This objective already requires significant efforts. During confinement, electricity consumption had dropped by around 17%, while everything was shut down”, underlines Julien Chazerand, director of energy performance and buildings at M2A.
Extension of heating networks
At the same time, the agglomeration is pursuing a major project to extend the territory’s heating networks, which recover waste industrial heat to heat housing. The network would be extended by around forty kilometers and this deployment is valued at 100 million euros. “The context underlines the relevance of focusing on local energies and decorrelating from fossil fuels”, points out Julien Chazerand. Housing and public facilities in the territory are already supplied by heating networks, set up several decades ago, managed directly by the agglomeration or by public service delegation.
Finally, since 2021, M2A has provided municipalities with a fund of two million euros to finance their energy transition projects, such as investment in renewable energies or projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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