Europe’s energy transition is often best illustrated when distilled down to a particular region, and Enlit On The Road experienced this when visiting Occitanie in southern France.
The region wants to become energy-positive by 2050: a challenging goal, but one that local representatives believe is achievable.
Speaking at an Enlit one-day conference in Toulouse, Philippe Bauchet, Deputy Director for Energy Issues and Industrial Ecology for the Occitanie Region, unpacked the strategy that will help get the region to its ambitious target.
He said the region’s roadmap is built on two pillars: “One is consumption, with the objective of halving the region’s energy consumption, and one is related to renewable energy production, with the objective of tripling it in the long term. So, the region’s energy consumption will have to be covered by local renewable energy production.”
Together, he said, these two pillars form the foundation of Occitanie’s long-term vision for energy sovereignty and climate resilience.
Collaborative model and optimal financing mechanisms
A unique feature of the regional approach, emphasised Bauchet, has been its collaborative governance model. The energy transition strategy was developed alongside state agencies, local authorities, businesses, research institutions, associations and citizens.
Key partners include ADEME, France’s ecological transition agency, and DREAL, the regional environmental authority. Other entities include the Regional Energy and Climate Agency (AREC), which provides technical expertise and investment, and the Regional Observatory of Climate and Energy (ORCEO), which monitors progress and provides data-driven guidance. Meanwhile, the TOTen network enables local authorities to share knowledge and coordinate climate actions across the region.
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Financing has also been critical to strategy implementation. Alongside national and European funding, Occitanie created the €150 million Oxygen investment fund to support renewable energy projects and industrial transformation, helping accelerate deployment at scale.
Effective collaboration and finance mechanisms are already yielding results. Since 2015, renewable energy production has increased from 27TWh to 35TWh, while energy consumption has fallen significantly.
Energy transition in action
Throughout the presentations and panel discussions at the one-day conference, a common theme emerged: achieving energy positivity will require a combination of renewable generation, circular economy solutions, low-carbon fuels, innovative infrastructure and strong regional collaboration.
I saw all these elements in action when I visited a series of projects across Occitanie, comprising waste-to-energy facilities, renewable gas networks, as well as floating offshore wind projects, hydrogen infrastructure and urban solar developments.
One example of Occitanie’s circular economy approach can be found at the Trifyl waste treatment facility in the Tarn Department. Rather than sending household waste to landfill, the site converts waste into valuable resources including biomethane, heat and refuse-derived fuel.
Using advanced sorting and anaerobic digestion technologies, Trifyl now produces biomethane that is injected directly into the regional gas network, supplying around 10% of local natural gas demand. The facility demonstrates how waste can become a local energy resource while reducing dependence on imported fuels. Looking further ahead, closed landfill areas will host solar photovoltaic installations, turning previously unusable land into renewable energy assets.
Gas infrastructure is also being transformed. Energy infrastructure company Terega is helping decarbonise the region by adapting its existing network to accommodate renewable gases. Biomethane forms a key pillar of this strategy, with infrastructure modifications allowing locally produced green gas to flow more efficiently through the network.
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Furthermore, through its €1.5 billion HYSOW project, Terega plans to develop a dedicated hydrogen network connecting production sites, storage facilities and industrial users across southwest France.
Hydrogen is also central to developments at Port-La-Nouvelle, where the region is reinventing one of its most important industrial assets. The port is undergoing a major transformation to support future energy flows, including hydrogen, biofuels, synthetic fuels and carbon dioxide logistics.
The redevelopment reflects a broader effort to anticipate the energy systems of tomorrow. Port-La-Nouvelle has therefore positioned itself as a key hub for floating offshore wind in the Mediterranean, hosting the assembly and deployment of pioneering projects that are helping establish an entirely new industrial sector in France.
Among these is the EFGL floating offshore wind project, which recently began delivering electricity to the grid. Beyond generating clean electricity, the project is helping build local supply chains, develop specialised skills and create the foundations for future commercial-scale deployment.
Renewable energy development in Occitanie is not limited to large-scale industrial infrastructure. In Toulouse, the Oncopole solar project demonstrates how energy transition can also support urban regeneration. Built on the site of the 2001 AZF factory disaster, the 15MW solar installation has transformed contaminated land into a productive renewable energy asset.
Today, the project supplies enough electricity for more than 4,000 homes while serving nearby healthcare and research facilities. Combined with the site’s striking Rainbow Blast solar artwork, the project symbolises how renewable energy can help communities reclaim and reimagine difficult spaces.
