PARIS-- May 04, 2023 -- Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, and the public institution in charge of Rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris have signed a sponsorship agreement in which Schneider is committed to contributing to the restoration of the cathedral through in-kind donations and the transfer of skills.

The fire that severely damaged the cathedral on April 15, 2019, triggered an extraordinary wave of solidarity that Schneider Electric wanted to be part of. “It is a matter of course for Schneider Electric to take part in this type of action for emblematic and prestigious sites, as we have done in the past for the Comédie Française or the Antarctic station,” emphasized Gilles Vermot-Desroches, Director of Citizenship and Institutional Affairs at Schneider Electric.

Advanced solutions

For Notre-Dame de Paris, as for previous projects, Schneider’s commitment is to provide its expertise, equipment, and state-of-the-art solutions. Schneider Electric will supply all the equipment needed to power the site: the transformer station, all the downstream electrical cabinets and breaker panels, and their components.

The agreement also includes a Building Management System (BMS), i.e., all the tools for energy management and power consumption control. Sensors, controllers, PLCs, communication buses, and associated software will enable the Cathedral’s operators to fine-tune the site’s energy use and consumption. Schneider is also supplying an inverter, a distribution board, and emergency lighting.

In addition to the equipment, Schneider Electric is responsible for maintaining the site’s electrical distribution systems, as well as the design, engineering, commissioning, and programming of the installed systems and training the future users.

For a site like no other

Cédric Larcher, Senior Project Manager at Schneider Electric France, is responsible for the implementation and follow-up of the project. Accustomed to tailor-made projects in special environments, he and his team are delighted to be working on this project, which, in addition to its prestigious nature, is anything but ordinary. The reasons for this include the cathedral’s historical monument status, which brings its own specific requirements, but also its scale, the logistics, space and access constraints (staircases, basements, vaults, etc.), and the resulting complexity of the work.

“For Schneider Electric, participating in the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral is not only a technical partnership, but also a human one,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric. “It gives us the opportunity to deploy our most innovative and secure energy management solutions at the service of an emblematic site dear to the citizens of France and the world. And this project is also a human adventure for the employees who will participate on the site.”

“We thank Schneider Electric for its support in the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris. Powering this monument is a major challenge for the work that will allow the cathedral to reopen in 2024. We are delighted to benefit from Schneider’s innovative energy management solutions, which will enable future operators to optimize their energy consumption. We are committed to integrating these concerns into the restoration of the Cathedral and we are pleased to count these technical advances among the French know-how at the service of our heritage,” said Philippe Jost, Deputy General Director of the Public Institution for the Restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Work onsite will begin in a few months and will secure the power supply to the site. The BMS will make it possible to control and optimize the monument’s energy consumption, bringing 21st-century innovations to this cathedral, a world heritage site and a masterpiece of medieval art.