THE FLEXGRID REGIONAL PROGRAMME
The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) Region submitted the FLEXGRID project in response to the French government’s major call for Smart Grids projects, launched in April 2015. This vast project, led by the PACA Region and driven by Capenergies, brings together local authorities and representatives of industry and academia from across the region. The aim is to roll out new Smart Grid technologies region-wide, on a pilot scheme basis, to address the challenges of the energy transition.
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A national call for projects to support the Smart Grids sector
Smart Grids are one of the French government’s 34 plans under the “New Face of Industry in France” programme. The FLEXGRID project was submitted in response to a national call for projects under this programme. The project’s aim is to roll out a series of mature Smart Grids equipment and technologies across a vast, representative area, commencing in 2017. The ambition is to galvanize the local economy and showcase France’s Smart Grids expertise around the world.
The winning region will become an early adopter of Smart Grids technologies developed by grid operators RTE and ERDF (at a total cost of €50-80 million), including more than 150,000 Linky smart meters. It will also have access to various national, regional and local funding schemes to support the emergence and industrial deployment of future technologies.
By 2020, the Smart Grids industrial plan aims to boost jobs in the sector from 15,000 to 25,000 and to push up turnover from €3bn to €6bn.
Universal backing
FLEXGRID comes on the coattails of various other Capenergies-backed experimental schemes in the PACA region, including PREMIO, NICE GRID, CITY OPT and INFINIDRIVE, and the recently certified Smart Campus Nice Sophia Antipolis project – all of which are helping turn the region into France’s premier location for the Smart Grids sector.
FLEXGRID is a joint project led by the PACA Region and involving Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, Marseille Provence Métropole, Communauté d’Agglomération du Pays d’Aix, Syndicat d’Agglomération Nouvelle Ouest Provence, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Department, Pays Serre-Ponçon Ubaye Durance, and Communauté de Communes Provence Verdon, as well as various energy distribution authorities.
The FLEXGRID project enjoys strong backing from regional industrial firms, coordinated primarily by the Capenergies and SCS competitiveness clusters. Leading industrial partners include EDF, Orange, Alstom, STMicroelectronics and the CEA. FLEXGRID is also backed by a pool of innovative SMEs, alongside research and training centres.