Dunkirk: Europe's largest energy platform

Main installations:

• Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Gravelines, operated by EDF (9% of nuclear-generated electricity in France)
• The largest LNG terminal (Fluxys) in continental Europe (storage capacity equal to 20% of annual consumption in France and Belgium) which has seen record activity in 2019 having received no less than 45 LNG carriers
• DK6: the largest gas combined cycle plant in France, operated by GDF SUEZ
• The landfall of one of the largest subsea gas pipelines in the world
• A wind farm operated by TOTAL, the first one installed in France in 1991
• The largest French urban heating network installed on a system of industrial waste heat recovery, operated by Dalkia
• Biofuel production facilities and the creation of an industrial pilot for second-generation biofuels in the near future
• The TOTAL Group’s Côte d’Opale oil depot,  one of the largest strategic French reserves of gasoil and petroleum terminals
• France’s largest coal port
• The next offshore windfarm of 600 MW that will be operational by 2025

A dense industrial fabric    

The Dunkirk area supplies energy to the Hauts de France Region (6 million inhabitants). It is connected to its European neighbours, and exchanges take place with Great Britain and Belgium in particular. At local level, industrial firms that are high energy consumers, such as Arcelor Mittal, Rio Tinto, Glencore Manganese, Comilog and Befesa Valera, benefit from a favourable environment. Some of them are committed to a virtuous approach, using waste heat. Dunkirk’s urban heating system supplies more than 16,000 homes using waste heat from the ArcelorMittal blast furnaces.

Dunkirk: a centre for experimentation!

Innovation and energy transition

Dunkirk Urban Community supports large-scale energy transition projects, such as the creation of an offshore wind farm off Dunkirk, and the Liquefied Natural Gas provisioning station project steered by Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque. It is also involved in two innovative projects concerning possible applications of hydrogen:

• The GRHYD project (Network Management for Energy Decarbonisation by Hydrogen Injection): demonstrating the use of hydrogen in transport and housing
• The Hydrogen Road: to develop the use of hydrogen electric and thermoelectric vehicles, and the installation of hydrogen service stations.

As well as these demonstration projects, Dunkirk is home to the POLENERGIE Regional Excellence Hub and the INNOCOLD Refrigeration Technology Institute, and launched an energy incubator in July 2014.

Euraénergie: site of excellence and innovation

The launch of Euraénergie in February 2016 is part of the Third Industrial Revolution defined by the American Jeremy Rifkin and is intended to generate employment and added value in the energy industries. Euraénergie has three priorities: training, assistance with research and startups, and support for innovative projects. As of September 2016 new  modules will be added to the existing ones: businesses wishing to set up in the area will be offered land and real estate, and a showroom will display the innovative ideas of project promoters.