Under the streets of Paris, a 75-mile labyrinth of pipes is at work trying to keep the parts of the city cool. They\u2019re\u00a0carrying\u00a0water that\u2019s been chilled\u00a0in special plants\u00a0before being\u00a0sent across the French capital,\u00a0to offices, malls and museums including the Louvre.<\/p>\n
In a country where air conditioning is rare, the district cooling network offers just that.\u00a0Operator Fraicheur de Paris, part of\u00a0Engie<\/a> SA, says it\u2019s more environmentally friendly, using\u00a050% less electricity than a standalone system and cutting emissions by half.\u00a0<\/p>\n The network, which uses water from the Seine as part of the cooling process,\u00a0is under intense strain right now from record high temperatures that have taken hold across the continent. Managing Director\u00a0Marie Carlo<\/a>\u00a0said chilling plants are working round the clock, and huge demand as well as occasional power outages means sometimes they can\u2019t get the water as cold as usual.<\/p>\n Despite the stresses on operations, Carlo says district cooling is going to become even more important as a response to\u00a0climate change<\/a>\u00a0and more extreme weather patterns.<\/p>\n The latest heatwave in Europe arrived before the usual summer temperature peak in July. In Paris, it forced the Louvre\u00a0and the Eiffel Tower to\u00a0close<\/a>\u00a0earlier than usual this week. Across the continent, transport was disrupted,\u00a0crops were damaged<\/a>,\u00a0and schools and nurseries had to shut.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also been linked to a number of deaths, something that\u2019s become a\u00a0recurring theme<\/a>\u00a0in Europe. More than 60,000 people were likely killed by scorching temperatures in the\u00a0summer of\u00a02022, and about 47,000 people\u00a0in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat used to be seen as a comfort solution is now becoming a health issue,\u201d Carlo said this week while presenting a tour of Fraicheur de Paris\u2019s operations. \u201cWe have a lot of demand for connections these days.\u201d<\/p>\n District cooling is being used in a number of cities, including Zurich, Singapore and Chicago. The basic process is to use refrigerants to\u00a0chill water\u00a0to as low as 4 degrees Celsius<\/a> (39.2F). The water, in a closed loop system, is pumped to the buildings of clients to produce fresh air. As it\u00a0warms, it\u2019s circulated back to plants for cooling again. Water from a local source\u00a0is tapped via heat exchangers as part of the cooling process.<\/p>\n It\u2019s\u00a0been used on a small scale in Paris since the 1970s, but started to really grow in the 1990s. Since then, Fraicheur de Paris\u00a0has expanded<\/a>\u00a0to 14 chilling plants, as well as large reservoirs and ice tanks.<\/p>\n One facility, under the banks of the Seine near\u00a0the Place du Canada, is a hive of pumps, pipes and machinery.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0a loud permanent buzz as\u00a0 \u201cchillers\u201d\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0deep underground \u2014\u00a0cool large volumes of water before sending it via scores of pipes to serve air conditioning systems of clients. Above them, as part of the cooling operations, heat exchangers use water from the Seine, which is regularly flushed back slightly warmer into the river.<\/p>\n Fraicheur de Paris, which operates under a concession from the city, supplies\u00a0more than 900 clients, from offices buildings to landmarks like the Opera Garnier. It aims to add more plants and almost 100 miles of pipes to triple the number of premises connected by 2042, when its concession expires.<\/p>\n