“We inherited a situation where the question of ecological transition was largely absent,” explains Sébastien Barles, deputy for ecological transition of the City.

In 2020, Marseille town hall shifted to the left and the new team is trying to catch up. This new interest is encouraged by the European Union, since the metropolis of Aix-Marseille is one of the 100 European cities selected to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. "In Marseille alone, we have a potential by 2030 of 240 gigawatt hours in production. It's quite colossal, explains Sébastien Barles. It's five times more than today!"

Lots of projects… which take time

The challenge is to find the necessary land, without artificializing the land and respecting heritage conservation requirements. So the city is taking advantage of the renovations of public buildings and schools to install solar panels: 53 schools have already been equipped. 

Other projects are a little more out of the ordinary. For example, signs could be installed on urban highways that cross the city. There is also a collective self-consumption project in the northern district of Frais Vallon, which should make it possible to reduce residents' electricity bills. But implementation takes time. For Sébastien Barles, there is still “a real administrative complexity”. “There is the law to accelerate renewable energies, but on local energy communities, we feel that on the State side, there is not really a desire to be helpful,” regrets -he. 

Technicians “made in Marseille”?

There remains one last barrier: the lack of specialized technicians. “Some companies are forced to refuse requests for construction sites because there are not enough qualified personnel,” explains Clémentine Lacroix, director of NR Sud. This training school dedicated to solar professions opened its doors in 2022 and trains around ten young people from Marseille each year. Which is still insufficient. According to a study by PwC France, the electricity sector will represent 200,000 additional jobs by 2030 to meet the requirements of the ecological transition.

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