Heat pumps at Futuroscope

As part of its major development project "Futuroscope Vision 2025", the park has set up a heating and air conditioning system in line with its ambition to integrate a complete environmental project. The heat pumps supply the park's new facilities and enable them to be heated and cooled solely from green electricity and geothermal energy, i.e. without any use of fossil fuels. In the long term, this equipment will help replace the gas-fired cogeneration and some of the refrigerants used.

TO GO FURTHER

Origin of the project
In 2020, the Futuroscope park announced a development project for 2025, highlighting its territorial anchorage and its strong ecological commitment. On the agenda: 3 new attractions, two themed hotels, a new generation restaurant, an atypical and themed aqua park and an Arena dedicated to music, shows and sports. Certified ISO 50 001 since January 2019, the Futuroscope wanted to reaffirm its desire to take up the environmental challenge and continue to reduce its environmental impact.

Stopping the production of heat based on fossil fuels
To meet this objective, the park inaugurated a low-carbon heating and cooling network in 2022. Designed by a subsidiary of the Dalkia group, the network consists of a 1.6 km-long pipeline network and a new production plant powered by green electricity. In normal operation, it will produce a combination of heat (16 GWh) and cold (6 GWh) as required, using heat pumps. The latter also rely on geothermal energy to limit their carbon footprint. This network will eventually cover the needs of the water park, the new hotel complex and the Arena theatre.

What is a heat pump?
A heat pump is a refrigeration machine that meets simultaneous heating and cooling needs by recovering heat or cold from another source. Its operating principle is quite similar to that of a heat pump, except that the cold source is as important as the hot source. Heat pumps allow water to be injected into the circuit at either 72° for heating or 7° for cooling. The pumps, which heat or cool the water by compression, are powered by "green" electricity, supplemented by a geothermal heating system.