Occitanie Regional Energy and Climate Agency

The Regional Energy and Climate Agency of Occitanie (AREC Occitanie) supports and develops energy transition solutions to support the territory’s actions. Created in 2018 under the impetus of the President of the Region, the organisation supports Occitanie’s ambition to become the first Positive Energy Region in Europe (REPOS).  

AREC Occitanie is a trusted and independent third party serving the general interest that promotes an equitable sharing of its services. The agency supports the implementation of public policies and territorial projects through active resilience to face climate change. To do this, its hybrid organisation, unique in France, is based on a structure composed of a local public company (SPL) and a semi-public company (SEM). 

Activities 

The agency provides expertise for sustainable and supportive development. Through its expertise and thanks to its engineering and investment capacities, AREC supports the various regional actors and project leaders, from the emergence to the realisation of their project. Areas of their activities include:  

• Mobilise the energy transition by informing and empowering actors through areas such as building and housing renovation, mobility, local renewable energy, and energy and climate data and forecasting.  

• Organise events to raise awareness and encourage actions to fight climate change. 

• Support the design and implementation of climate and energy plans and strategies.  

• Carrying out local solar projects.  

• Developing and investing in energy infrastructure projects.  

Projects 

AREC Occitanie aims to support regional stakeholders towards active climate resilience by planning and manufacturing innovative, co-constructed, and adapted solutions. Project areas that they are involved in include:  

• Support territorial stakeholders with multi-stakeholder and multi-thematic solutions: AREC  Occitanie has developed a platform to connect roofowners with local citizen cooperatives for the realisation of photovoltaic installations and has set up an investment tool to co-invest alongside citizens and local authorities for the development of renewable energy projects with local governance. 

• Invests and massively invests in the energy transition with an integrated service offer: AREC Occitanie is carrying out, alongside ENGIE, the installation of electrolysers at Toulouse Blagnac airport, to supply hydrogen to the Airbus and airport shuttles. 

• Acts to accelerate energy savings, in industry and the tertiary sector: AREC Occitanie supports SATYS, an international French group headquartered in Blagnac specialising in waterproofing, aircraft painting and the interior design of aircraft and trains, for the implementation of operational actions geared towards energy efficiency. 

• Is committed to ensuring the resilience of Occitanie to climate change:  AREC Occitanie leads the Regional Observatory of Energy and Climate in Occitanie (ORCEO), which monitors the trajectory of the Positive Energy Region. 

• The agency also monitors and develops the regional public service for the energy renovation of private housing; Rénov’Occitanie. 

• AREC Occitanie is part of the European Stepping Plus project for the generalisation of energy performance contracts around the Mediterranean basin.