‘Kind of miracle solution’: How Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con

Raphaëlle Nayral, secretary general of Fraîcheur de Paris, inspects an underground urban cooling network power station in Paris. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

As heatwaves intensify across Europe, most cities are reaching for a familiar fix of more air conditioning. But in 1990s Paris, planning began for a different kind of solution: one of the world’s largest district cooling networks.

The system has 120kms (75-miles) of underground pipes distributing chilled water to museums, offices, hospitals, schools and other public buildings including the Louvre, the Grand Palais, and some luxury hotels and office districts. Instead of thousands of individual air-conditioning units, cooling is produced centrally and shared across the city like a utility.