Innovating in the energy transition in Marseilles: Interview with AGAM

In Marseilles, there is the aim to create the sustainable Mediterranean city of the future. Efforts to combat air pollution from maritime shipping and heavy industry: there are a number of solutions already in use (LNG, shore power, scrubbers, etc.), while others, such as hydrogen, are at the experimental stage. The port - GPMM is particularly active in the Energy transition and circular economy, but there is a real risk of opposition vis-à-vis ports (especially for activities such as cruises). To address that, ports have strengthened their consultation mechanisms in collaboration with the AGAM (Agence d’Urbanisme de l’Agglomération Marseillaise, Planning Agency for the Marseilles Conurbation), with a city-port charter and city-port dialogue. In this interview, we discuss with them the issues related to this commitment on the territory of Marseilles. The AGAM has been an active member of AIVP since 2004. PIICTO, an industrial ecology platform AIVP – In 2017, you published a special booklet on the circular economy in the city and port of Marseilles. In it, you presented the PIICTO project, an industrial ecology scheme created in 2014 and coordinated by the Marseilles Chamber of Commerce & Industry.Can you tell us briefly what its main components are, and what challenges are involved? Xavier MOIROUX, Economics Research Officer at the AGAM - Agence d’Urbanisme de l’Agglomération Marseillaise Xavier MOIROUX, Economics Research Officer at the AGAM On a 1,200 hectare site in the industrial port zone of Fos, the PIICTO platform houses 17 chemical, materials, and energy companies including Kem One, Lyondell, Bayer, Asco Industries, Elengy, Air Liquide, Solamat Merex, Everé, and GDF Suez. The platform represents 5 million tonnes of maritime traffic (6% of the total traffic passing through GPMM - Grand Port Maritime de Marseille) and employs 3,000 people. PIICTO started out as a laboratory for the circular economy and territorial industrial ecology within the Industrial Port Zone of Fos, known as the “ZIP”. It took inspiration from the circular economy movements begun at the major industrial ports of northern Europe, such as Kalundborg (Denmark) and Dunkirk. Those movements are based on the principle of pooling resources and exchanging flows of materials and energy between businesses and with the local area. In more concrete terms, PIICTO has launched a steam network, which has generated substantial savings for those involved and helped to raise the international appeal of the sector in a “plug and play” equipped zone. Chinese firm Quechen has already opted to join the platform, and 400 million euros of investment is earmarked for it between 2020 and 2025. Piicto @ Grand Port Maritime de Marseille One of PIICTO’s key features is the creation of an incubator for innovation in the energy transition field: Innovex. It occupies a 12 hectare site, and benefits from the presence of PIICTO’s industrial operators, offering the opportunity to test pre-industrial pilot projects in the area of energy diversification (CO2, hydrogen, bioremediation, power to gas, renewable storage, smart grids, bio-refining, etc.).Today, PIICTO, which is founded on a collective approach, has cemented its position as one of the leading industrial platforms in the Aix-Marseille-Provence agglomeration, housing…