Interview: Olivier Sichel, Director of the Banque des Territoires
Olivier Sichel is the president of the Banque des Territoires. We met him during the TRANSITION FORUM in Nice on October 1st.
1. Since 2018, the Banque des Territoires has represented one of the five business lines of Caisse des Dépôts. Can you tell us more about your consulting and financing activities for local communities?
The Banque des Territoires is indeed a structure within Caisse des Dépôts that has all the levers for the development of territories. We lend a lot of money through Livret A and Livret Développement Durable passbook savings accounts. This represents between 10 and 12 billion euros each year. We invest in new renewable energies (nearly 2 billion euros each year). And we operate in social housing: we are one of the largest social landlords with 500,000 homes.
2. What place is given to the ecological transition within the Banque des Territoires?
It is a major one. It is a very strong development axis. Within the framework of the Climate Plan that we launched with Bpifrance for a total amount of €40 billion, Bpifrance manages €20 billion directed towards companies, technological innovation and the decarbonization of industrial processes. We deal with the ecological transition of local communities. This concerns on the one hand housing, with thermal renovation, particularly in social housing. This year, we have financed the renovation of nearly 100,000 homes that were thermal sieves. It also concerns public buildings. I am notably thinking of schools. I was at the TRANSITION FORUM this morning with Christian Estrosi (the mayor of Nice, in South France) and we talked about the thermal renovation of schools and all kinds of buildings. All this constitutes the building part, which counts a lot in terms of carbon emissions.
But there also is transportation. In that field, we are essentially dealing with the infrastructure part. For example, because of the growing number of electric vehicles, we will have to deploy charging stations. So we are also talking to the mayors of France about their charging infrastructure plans. Basically, where do we install the charging stations? Who is financing them? And how can all this be optimized? Transportation also concerns the mobility equipment of local authorities, such as buses. We are discussing hydrogen buses and even refuse collection vehicles, many of which still run on diesel.
So, building and transport are our sectors of intervention. But in addition to that, we heavily invest in new and renewable energies. For example, we are currently working in Bordeaux on a large solar farm in a former landfill. This PV plant will be able to produce clean electricity for one out of seven Bordeaux inhabitants.
3. What does one euro provided by the Banque des Territoires correspond to in the end?
We try to have a leverage effect: it is very important. When the Banque des Territoires puts in one euro, other euros come from our banking partners and private investors. We are quite happy because we have a leverage effect of seven. So, when we bring one euro, it is seven euros that will go into the overall investment project. For example, in the PV power plant in Bordeaux, the Banque des Territoires will be an investor with a private partner (JP2E) that will be indebted by going to the banks (Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, Caisse d'Epargne...) that will finance it. And with one euro, we will in fact put seven euros around the table.
It is extremely important for us to have this leverage effect. And we are tending to increase and develop it because we realize that the Banque des Territoires is a fine brand that inspires confidence: it is the money of the French people that we are putting to work, the money from Livret A. We are a public institution: we are used to being cautious but sometimes also daring. And what allows us to do this is that we are in it for the long haul. There is certainly a risk, but if we stay on projects that are going to be long term (15, 20, even 30 years), then we have a better chance of making these projects work.
4. How do you mobilize private actors?
This constitutes our "investment" part. In this part, we try to be at the center of the ecosystem. We have a special relationship with elected officials: they trust us, and we can have a real degree of intimacy with the mayors. For example, this morning at the TRANSITION FORUM, Christian Estrosi told us about his main directions for Nice (tourism, greening, thermal renovation of buildings, renovation of his fleet, H2 project for the port). We are fully aware of this wishes and when we talk to our investing partners in the private sector, we are able to tell them that the city of Nice wants to invest in tourism, hydrogen, electric buses, etc. We have the capacity to set up financing projects.
We also are a very important player for European funds. Large structures such as the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank do not have the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Nice every day. They trust us. We are what we call an "implementing partner". This means that we distribute the European funds for these projects. We agree once and for all with them, they tell us exactly what they want to finance, and we find the projects. So, we are really at the center of this ecosystem with the confidence of both elected officials (because Caisse des Dépôts has existed for over 200 years) and private partners who know that with us, they have a better chance of success.
5. Today, on October 1st, you are joining the Transition Forum Call for Expressions of Interest whose objective is to highlight and accompany solutions of cooperation between territories and innovative companies. What key message would you like to send to project leaders?
We need these projects. The reality is that we do not have too much trouble working with large companies. We were at the TRANSITION FORUM this morning with Antoine Frérot from Veolia: he knows us and when we have a big job to do on an incinerator, as we are doing for example in the city of Nice, we are used to it and the teams know how to work together. That is very good, but it is not enough. We also need innovative projects, projects that come from local communities. And what this partnership allows us to do is to source many local projects, to identify those that have the capacity to be scaled up, i.e. to be duplicated / replicated in all regions, in order to support them in terms of financing but also from a technical, legal and financial point of view. We can then say: you can set up your project like that and we are able to support you.
See you at the next TRANSITION FORUM in a year's time for an initial assessment of the projects selected.
The joint Climate Plan launched by the Banque des Territoires and Bpifrance
Launched in September 2020, this joint Climate Plan is based on three pillars: accelerating the environmental transition of businesses and local communities, supporting the development of renewable energies, and financing and supporting innovation in greentech and in sustainable and resilient networks. This €40bn Climate Plan covers the 2020-2024 period.
