The City of Valenciennes and ETDE, the Energy and Services division of Bouygues Construction, have signed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) valued at 27.2 million euros over 20 years, related particularly to operating public lighting and traffic light systems as well as illuminating the City's historic buildings. 

The City of Valenciennes is seeking to achieve the following objectives from this PPP: a reduction in energy consumption and the implementation of an ambitious lighting plan for high quality, innovative and sustainable lighting, improving the living environment for the 45,000 inhabitants of the city of Valenciennes and benefiting 350,000 people in all, included in the surrounding areas. Through its commitments, ETDE is contributing to meeting the city's Agenda 21 on environmental, economic, social and societal issues. 

ETDE will start work under this contract from 1 October 2012. 

Sustainable, efficient and environmentally-friendly lighting 

ETDE is committed to 51% energy savings, averaged over all the lighting facilities in the city: 33% on public lighting, 55% for architectural lighting and 69% for traffic lights. 

To meet its commitment, ETDE will manage public lighting sustainably: renovating 92% of installations, replacing high energy consumption equipment with light fittings that ensure better energy efficiency, installing dual-power ballast for the right light level at night and new technologies including 650 LED lights, etc. 

ETDE will also install a remote management system for roadside cabinets to control lighting remotely, manage maintenance and monitor consumption. To become a template for an intelligent and ecological city, Valenciennes will also test a digital lighting management system in the city centre, designed by ETDE and offering remote control of each lighting unit. Valenciennes is among the first cities to experiment with this communication system to provide the most appropriate lighting, by matching every lighting unit as accurately as possible to each application. Notably, this infrastructure will also include an environmental sensor to provide real-time information about air quality. 

Responding to the local authority's Sustainable Development challenges 

Looking beyond energy efficiency, the contract contains a significant sustainable development component, including a commitment to environmentally-friendly working practices: waste management and material recycling, reducing noise pollution, acquiring a hydraulic cradle elevator and electric vehicle that generate less pollution and noise, etc. Carbon footprint^® audits will be carried out every 5 years. At the end of this partnership, more than 3000 tonnes of CO² should have been saved¹. 

Preserving biodiversity will also be considered: in partnership with Noé Conservation, detailed work will be done to identify animal and plant species sensitive to light pollution, to ensure sustainable management of green spaces. An example of lighting that responds to these issues will be highlighted at the Rhônelle Park located in Valenciennes city centre. ETDE will also present educational workshops on energy and biodiversity topics in local schools. 

An ambitious lighting plan for inhabitants 

In association with Roger Narboni (CONCEPTO), one of the best-known lighting designers in France, ETDE will also upgrade the lighting identity of Valenciennes. 56 remarkable sites, starting with the pit headframe of the Dutemple district recently named a UNESCO world mining heritage site, will be illuminated, and two night walks will give greater visibility and consistency to the city-centre lighting. Three small night exhibitions will liven up the city centre, which will also be equipped with high-tech interactive tourist display units. These display units  are designed and built with the Institut Supérieur de Design (ISD) - Supinfocom group, one of the three campuses of which is sited in Valenciennes and with which ETDE will maintain a partnership throughout the PPP. The new lighting plan for the city will be completed in 2014. 

Combining local talents and resources 

Looking beyond its long-term partnership with ISD in Valenciennes, ETDE will promote recruitment of disabled employees by working with local sheltered workshops and social integration associations, such as Valenciennes' Association of parents and friends of people with intellectual disabilities. 
  
ETDE, an expert in long-term contracts
 
As an expert in long-term contracts with over a hundred references in France and Europe (PPP, public service delegations, energy efficiency contracts, etc.), ETDE has extensive experience in city service and energy efficiency contracts, illustrated by convincing references in regional and national capitals: Paris, Lille, Boulogne-Billancourt and Sèvres, London, and more. 

For Pierre-Eric Saint-André, Deputy CEO of ETDE, "implementing a public-private partnership brings together the best of both worlds: the public authority seeks to give the area the best quality of life for the best cost and the industrial operator integrates the best technologies and methods to design reliable, modern and lasting systems on which it makes lasting overall performance commitments in terms of budgetary control and energy efficiency." 

For the mayor of Valenciennes, Laurent Degallaix, "the aim of this PPP is to improve the quality of the living environment for the people of Valenciennes, to enhance the attractive and dynamic image of our city and to optimise our energy costs, while also illustrating our pro-active approach to innovation in development, sustainable improvement and protection of our environment. In particular this should be seen from the implementation of a reasoned approach to energy consumption, the 'right lighting', and a genuine overall strategy for renovating and maintaining lighting facilities in Valenciennes. This contract is an appropriate response to environmental and technological issues, to build the city of tomorrow, today." 
  
About ETDE: 

The Energy and Services division of Bouygues Construction, ETDE is an expert in energy efficiency. ETDE designs, implements, maintains and operates networks (energy infrastructures, digital infrastructures, electrical and thermal engineering, public lighting, etc.) and local services (facility management, industrial maintenance, city services, etc.). ETDE is committed to ensuring long-lasting technical solutions and the performance of its services in order to sustainably improve the quality of the living environment. ETDE works with public and private clients in four large markets: infrastructures, cities, services and industry. In France and internationally, ETDE relies on the expertise, commitment and responsiveness of its 12,000 staff to bring its clients innovative solutions with high technological added value. With 200 locations in France and a presence in more than 20 countries internationally, ETDE generated a turnover of 1.6 billion euros in 2011. 

¹ Calculations based on an ADEME standard.