School energy-renovation plan cut by €40 million after June announcement

A school-renovation plan presented during a heatwave in June has been sharply reduced, cutting the number of schools it can cover from more than 10,000 to 2,500.

The overall package had been announced at €136 million, with 60% financed by EDF. Within it, a €56 million contribution from the Banque des Territoires, La Banque Postale and the Actee energy-efficiency program was intended to help adapt 12,500 schools to climate conditions. That allocation will now fall by €40 million, or 71%, and will finance only energy audits.

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The plan announced at the end of June was rather interesting and covered a little more than 10,000 schools, and this plan is now reduced to 2,500 schools.

Guillaume Perrin, director of Actee, said the prime minister’s office informed the program at the end of July that the available amount had fallen to €16 million. “The plan announced at the end of June was rather interesting and covered a little more than 10,000 schools, and this plan is now reduced to 2,500 schools,” he said. He described the cut as regrettable after the suffering reported by children and teachers during two heatwaves that struck during the school term.

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It is regrettable given the scale of the heatwave plan and all the suffering expressed by children and teachers during the two heatwaves that occurred during the school term.

The removed funding, supplied by energy companies through energy-saving certificates, is expected to go instead to France’s electrification plan, which aims to spend €10 billion a year to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. A sector specialist also suggested the change could help move part of the MaPrimeRénov’ housing-renovation financing into the certificate system and outside budget negotiations.

The Education Ministry confirmed the change but rejected the idea that its ambition had diminished. It said the objective of better protecting the schools most vulnerable to future heatwaves remained unchanged. Since July 8, around 2,000 applications have reportedly been submitted. EDF had announced €80 million during the June heatwave, including €40 million for quickly available cooling equipment.

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There is no reduction in ambition in this plan: the objective of better equipping the schools most vulnerable to cope with future heatwaves remains unchanged.