Inauguration of drilling of geothermal doublet in Alfortville, France

The Coriance Group has officially started work on the drilling of a new geothermal doublet in the Alfortville commune in the suburbs of Paris, France. The new wells will be targeting the Dogger formation at a depth of 1600 meters, where water at 73 °C is expected. The drilling will take approximately three months and commissioning is expected by September 2025.

In attendance at the inauguration ceremony were Luc Carvounas, Mayor of Alfortville, and Yves Lederer, President of Coriance Group.

The Coriance Group was contracted by Alfortville in July 2023 to create a new geothermal doublet to replace the existing doublet that has been in service since 1986. This project aims to sustain the production of renewable heat and strengthen the city’s energy independence by providing 85% of the energy needs of the city’s heating network.

This project, requiring an investment of EUR 22.25 million, has been supported by a EUR 7.3 million subsidy from the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and EUR 2.6 million from the Ile-de-France region.

The Greater Paris Area has been utilizing geothermal for heating since the 1960s, with the Dogger Formation as the main aquifer exploited for geothermal energy. According to a report by the AFPG, heat production from deep geothermal resources supplies around 1 million people in France, and accounted for about 2.26 TWh of energy production in 2023. There are 55 deep geothermal heating operations in the Paris Basin alone, generating more than 1900 GWh of heat per year.