Renewable Energy Project: France

Our Energy Transition: A Feature Story

In 2008, Vermilion teamed up with four agricultural engineers who wanted to create an economically and ecologically viable greenhouse operation in which to grow tomatoes. The concept was to use geothermal energy from our Parentis oilfield’s produced water to supply an industrial-sized tomato greenhouse operation. Today, this ongoing operation has catalyzed an entire agricultural sector, and we have expanded the concept to heating residential neighbourhood and a microalgae producer, and a college in three additional communities in France. This represents strong partnerships developed over the years that represent added value for the areas that host our activities. 203-2

Here's how it grew.

We Began With Tomatoes

The mayor of Parentis brought Vermilion and the tomato growers together in the mid-2000s. The  ensuing discussions led to the rezoning and issuance of related municipal permits, and the signing of our 25-year partnership agreement. Tom D’Aqui (the tomato growing cooperative) built their first 10-hectare greenhouse next to our Parentis battery, we installed the heat exchange technology and brought the operation online in 2012, establishing that this model not only worked, but worked well.

How Our Geothermal Energy Is Sourced

Within the overall agricultural sector listed above, the direct impact of our produced water geothermal system includes:

This system also allows the Tom d’Aqui greenhouse to be heated without carbon emissions, a key element in their certification as an eco-greenhouse. The project also reduces the cost of traditional tomato growing operations in the region, allowing the producers to compete with warmer climate producers.

Circular Economy Recognition from the Government of France

This shared focus on innovative technology and environmental responsibility earned our partnership the 2013 Circular Economy Award for Industrial and Regional Ecology from the French government, recognizing economically successful enterprises that operate within a circular economy. G4-OG2/3

Expanding Beyond

By demonstrating proof-of-concept, our partnership with Tom d’Aqui has been credited as being a catalyst for three new projects launched independently of Vermilion. It has also attracted other business to the area, creating an agricultural sector that has become an important factor within the region’s economy. Our heat contributes 40% of the sector’s needs; the other projects have been developed using recycled biomass, with the result that this is now the largest tomato production in France from non-fossil fuel sources, including:

Sharing Our Expertise

Based on our success, we supported AVENIA, an industry partnership that advises the French government on energy, to launch an industry and country-wide study to identify the potential for waste energy use from oil and gas operations. In addition to contributing financial support, we provided the expertise of our people, and actively encouraged other companies to participate. The results were shared following a detailed review by AVENIA.    

Moving from Agriculture to Housing, in La-Teste

We are using a similar geothermal concept to support an Eco-Neighborhood in La-Teste. This 30-year partnership with the city and the French land developer Pichet is using our geothermal energy to heat 550 apartments, saving 50% of the heating bill for the residents and 500 tonnes per year of CO2. The community, which has reserved one third of the apartments for low-income social housing, also features a community centre and various sports facilities. The technology works the same way as in our greenhouse partnership:

Advancing to New Projects
In 2021, we established a third geothermal application in France. Our Vic Bilh asset is providing geothermal heat to a nearby Fleur de Vie facility that produces high quality spirulina, a microalgae with a wide variety of uses.

In addition, our Les Pins asset began providing geothermal heat to Archachon school in late 2021.

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