On Tuesday 12th December 2023, Philippe Wahl, Chairman and CEO of La Poste Group, and Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of EDF, signed a long-term strategic partnership agreement for a global energy offer. It involves a major energy efficiency programme and the creation of a joint venture between La Poste Immobilier, the La Poste group’s real estate company, and the EDF group. As part of the agreement, La Poste group plans to invest 400 million euros to reduce its energy consumption and accelerate the decarbonisation of its real estate assets.
In the face of the climate crisis and in line with the Paris Agreement, La Poste, as a mission-driven company, is aiming for Net Zero Emissions by 2040. As part of its decarbonisation strategy, the Group is stepping up actions to reduce the carbon footprint of its business. Through its real estate company La Poste Immobilier, La Poste group operates a portfolio of 10,000 buildings representing 6 million m2 and chose the EDF Group following a European tendering procedure to accelerate the energy transition of its real estate assets.
To achieve this ambition, the two groups have signed a strategic partnership agreement that includes the allocation to a consortium of EDF subsidiaries of a global performance contract for the design and implementation of a large-scale energy works programme[1]. La Poste's reals estate assets represent an annual energy consumption of 990 GWh, equivalent to the consumption of a town of 300,000 inhabitants.
In total, La Poste group plans to invest 400 million euros to improve the carbon footprint of its real estate assets, with the aim of reducing their energy consumption by 20% and their CO2 emissions by 35%, by the year 2030.
An ambitious, long-term works schedule
The partnership will implement an ambitious schedule of energy efficiency works, designed to significantly reduce the energy consumption of La Poste’s real estate assets. This includes:
- Deployment of energy performance control systems via a Building Management System (BMS) extended to nearly 1,300 sites,
- Renovation of energy systems (replacement of boilers with heat pumps, modernization of lighting systems, etc.) and of the building envelope (renovation of buildings and insulation) on nearly 500 sites,
- Development of self-consumption with accelerated installation of solar power plants on 250 sites of La Poste on rooftops and car park canopies, with a total installed photovoltaic capacity of 20 Megawatt-peak (MWp) by 2028,
- Deployment of electric vehicle charging stations at La Poste’s sites, in line with La Poste's strategy of decarbonising transportation. The Group has one of the largest fleets of electric vehicles in Europe, representing around 40% of its total fleet. This infrastructure will make EV-charging accessible to Group employees and customers, as well as to the general public, depending on the site.
The EDF Group is committed to deploying a range of custom solutions for La Poste group to support this strategy, integrating regulatory changes such as the tertiary sector decree, the BACS (Building Automation & Control Systems) decree and the LOM (French Mobility) law. To do so, the EDF Group will be calling on the expertise and know-how of its subsidiaries. In practice, the energy master plan and initial decarbonisation roadmap for La Poste’s real estate assets will be drawn up by Urbanomy, EDF SA's consulting subsidiary. Dalkia will be in charge of energy renovation work on buildings, while EDF ENR will install photovoltaic panels on roofs and car park canopies. IZIVIA will install, operate and maintain the electric vehicle charging stations.
A joint venture to implement the partnership
The partnership agreement also includes the creation of a joint venture. Owned by La Poste Immobilier (66%) with the EDF Group (34%), this joint venture will allow the two partners to combine their expertise and experience in energy transition. It will be responsible for implementing the global performance contract, scheduling works to be carried out, coordinating investments and operations, and guaranteeing targets and performance indicators. Both partners will contribute their skills by seconding personnel.
Finally, to decarbonise its electricity supply (80 to 120 GWh per year, i.e. around 20% of its electricity consumption), La Poste will work with the joint venture to define its purchasing strategy and market consultation for long-term energy contracts (PPA - Power Purchase Agreement).
Philippe Wahl, Chairman and CEO of La Poste group
“The alliance of our two public service companies in this long-term industrial partnership and the pooling of our teams' expertise, to further energy transition, is a first. In addition to its pioneering commitment to low-carbon delivery and sustainable finance, La Poste group will be taking a new step with EDF in acquiring a powerful and innovative tool to accelerate the ecological transition of one of France's largest real estate portfolios, and thus consolidate its global leadership in CSR.”
Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of EDF, said: “I am delighted with this cooperation between La Poste group and the EDF Group, which includes a wide range of solutions for reducing CO2 emissions by improving the buildings’ energy efficiency. By bringing to this partnership the expertise of our subsidiaries Dalkia, Urbanomy, EDF ENR and Izivia, the EDF Group is proud to contribute to a very significant improvement in the energy and carbon footprint of one of France's largest real estate holders.”