Removal of the Last Oil-Fired Boiler from Public Buildings, to be Replaced with Ocean Thermal Energy, the Principality's Blue Gold

Thalassothermie : l'or bleu de la Principauté

As part of the energy transition policy of the Prince's Government, the Public Buildings Maintenance Office, in association with SeaWergie, has just dismantled its last fossil-fuelled heating system - the oil boilers in the Administrative Centre, situated at 8 Rue Louis Notari.                                                                                                     

By the third quarter of 2021, the new source of heating for the Administrative Centre will be ocean thermal energy - a form of renewable energy with great potential that is already being used to great advantage in Monaco, where thermal energy from the sea is harnessed to heat and cool buildings and produce domestic hot water.

The Centre will be equipped with two heat pumps, connected to the ocean thermal energy loop in the La Condamine district, which will make it possible to reduce CO₂ emissions on this site alone by almost 6 tonnes per year.

As a reminder, the Principality was one of the first countries to develop this type of renewable energy.  Monegasque know-how in the field of heat pumps dates back to the 1960s, with the installation of its first seawater heat pump at the Rainier III Outdoor Swimming Stadium in 1963, to heat the water in the swimming pool.

Today, there are more than 80 seawater heat pumps throughout Monaco. Among the most iconic are those of the Grimaldi Forum, the Oceanographic Museum, the Rainier III Auditorium and the SBM's establishments.