Geothermal energy heats the school and restaurant of this small town in La Manche

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Following an audit carried out in 2021 on the heating of the school and the school restaurant, the town of Saint-Quentin-sur-le-Homme, in the south of Manche, has undertaken major work to install heating by geothermal energy.

The end of the project was inaugurated on Saturday November 23.

A step towards the ecological and energy transition

The installation of geothermal energy by a field of ten vertical probes at a depth of 100 meters under the school plateau for the heating of the school and the connection to the geothermal heat pump of the presbytery, represents a considerable step forward for our municipality by taking part in an active approach to ecological and energy transition.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Geothermal energy is a renewable, clean and environmentally friendly energy. It draws heat directly from the ground to transform it into an energy source, “which makes it a perfectly suited solution for efficiently heating our premises. By replacing oil heating with geothermal energy, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” indicated the mayor of the town.

50% less greenhouse gases

For the school restaurant, this represents a reduction of 50%. “For the school, greenhouse gases with geothermal energy will be 1.52 tonnes of CO2 per year. By 2050, emissions will amount to 41 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of 367,000 kilometers traveled by car. Whereas if we had kept fuel oil, the equivalent would be 5.7 million km by car.”

61,000 euros payable by the municipality

For the school restaurant, the cost of the work amounts to €34,440, of which €14,575 was subsidized by the State via the local investment support grant (DSIL), €7,288 by the Fund. investment of rural municipalities (FIR) and €7,288 by the Rural Communes Solidarity Fund (FSCR) of the agglomeration community, i.e. a remainder payable by the municipality of €7,289.

For the school, the total amount of work, adding the energy renovation of the motor skills room (real thermal sieve according to the 2021 audit) and the insulation of the attic, amounts to €227,911. The project was subsidized to the tune of €54,417 from the State DETR/DSIL, €64,946 from ADEME, and €54,990 from the Department's FIR. The remainder payable by the municipality is €53,558.

This work teaches, today, the importance of preserving our planet and taking care of natural resources.

If the amounts of this work are significant, they will reduce energy costs in the long term. This renovation did not only concern the environment and finances: “it is also at the heart of the education of future generations. The 157 students in our school, from nursery to primary school, as well as their families, are directly involved in this ecological transition,” concludes the mayor.

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