AREC Occitanie: A New Blueprint for Regional Innovation

When France’s Occitanie Region set its sights on becoming Europe’s first positive energy region by 2050, it needed more than political ambition or a strategy on paper — it needed a catalyst. That’s how AREC Occitanie, the region’s energy and climate agency, came to life in 2018. Not just another energy agency, AREC was designed to be a “Solutions Factory”: a nimble, trusted third party capable of designing, funding, and delivering energy transition projects across sectors and geographies.

From small rural municipalities to industrial players and regional infrastructure developers, AREC offers tailor-made solutions for those ready to take action but require more certainty. Its secret? An innovative model that allows them to leverage public funding to meet the demands of private-sector flexibility — and puts investment at the heart of its mission.

A new kind of energy agency

AREC’s story begins with a problem familiar to many energy actors across Europe: how to accelerate the energy transition at the local level in a time of shrinking public budgets and growing complexity. Local authorities often lacked capacity, companies needed help reducing their emissions without sacrificing competitiveness, and public investments alone couldn’t keep up with the scale of the challenge.
Instead of choosing between planning and delivery, or between public service and commercial viability, the region innovated a hybrid tool — one that could do it all.

AREC today consists of two legal entities:

• A local public company (SPL), whose 85 shareholders include the Occitanie Region and dozens of local authorities
• A semi-public company (SEM), majority-owned by the region, with shareholders such as the national investment bank Banque des Territoires and regional financial institutions.

This structure gives AREC a unique edge: it can work closely with public actors to plan and support their projects — but also invest directly in infrastructure, take calculated risks, and share governance with other partners.

De-risking the future

AREC’s approach to investment is both strategic and pragmatic. Its capital — currently around 100 million euros — is deployed across a diversified portfolio. That includes mature, low-risk projects such as solar PV and heating networks, but also riskier early-stage innovations in green hydrogen, smart storage, and zero-emission transport.

By balancing these investments, AREC can de-risk the future — giving confidence to banks and co-investors while creating space for innovation. Its strategy is simple: use the solid returns of proven technologies to support high-impact projects whose profitability is still uncertain. In doing so, AREC acts as a financial and operational bridge between the experimental and the executable.

This model has a powerful leverage effect. Since 2018, AREC has invested 55 million euros in over 120 projects, unlocking more than 1.1 billion euros of total investment. That’s 21 euros of impact for every euro invested.

But AREC doesn’t just inject capital and step back. Whether it’s 20% or 49% of a project’s equity, the agency remains involved in its governance, helping guide strategic decisions while ensuring that public interest remains at the core.

“We carry part of the risk, so others can come on board,” says Stephane Pére. “But we also carry the values of the region — equity, sustainability, and territorial resilience. That’s what makes the model both effective and replicable.”

Local solutions, regional impact

One of AREC’s most visible successes is the Ombrières d’Occitanie programme — a regional initiative to install solar canopies over public car parks, sports facilities, and markets. These small sites, often overlooked by private developers, are grouped into project clusters by AREC, reducing costs and making them bankable.

For local authorities, the formula is simple: no upfront costs, no operational burdens, and a modest rent from the operator. In return, they get solar-powered infrastructure that delivers clean energy and local benefits.

Another flagship project is Fiteeo, AREC’s third-party investment solution for industrial decarbonisation. Companies receive a turnkey package: technical feasibility, financing, and equipment supply.  Fiteeo de-risks industrial decarbonisation by pairing rigorous technical support with a third-party investment model: AREC finances and initially owns the equipment, the companies then repay it back as OPEX from the savings, and ownership is transferred at the end of the term. It optimises and can pre-finance subsidies and CEE certificates to cut net costs and bridge timing gaps, aggregates bank financing under a trusted public counterparty, and uses guarantees where relevant. With a single interface for audits, procurement, and works supervision, Fiteeo reduces coordination and delivery risk while smoothing cash flow and making ROI more predictable.

Through this innovative approach, AREC Occitanie has supported the decarbonisation of several local industries from a wide array of sectors present in its territory, ranging from energy intensive industries such as Villeroy & Bosch’s factory in Valence d’Agen, to agrarian sectors such as Grap’Sud in Cruviers-Lascours. The result? Fast, efficient decarbonisation with minimal risk for the business – and a reduction of over 6,000 tons of Co2 emissions per year with these between these two examples alone.

Leading the hydrogen wave

AREC has also been a driving force behind green hydrogen in Occitanie — starting with the first regional production and distribution station, HyPort, at Toulouse-Blagnac airport. The facility now supplies airport shuttle buses with locally produced, zero-emission fuel. AREC co-invested in the project alongside private company Engie, taking a 49% stake.

HyPort is just the beginning. The agency is involved in scaling up hydrogen infrastructure across Occitanie — from logistics corridors to liquefaction plants — helping build a robust, local hydrogen ecosystem rooted in public-private cooperation.

A model for replication

AREC’s hybrid structure, diverse portfolio, and territorial anchoring have started to attract attention from other regions in France — and beyond. In 2023, the agency supported Centre-Val de Loire in designing a similar model, tailored to their context.

In a time of rising uncertainty and tighter public budgets, the AREC approach offers a way forward: combine public trust with investment capacity, keep close to the ground, and let local needs drive innovation.
Crucially, AREC shows that energy agencies don’t have to choose between being advisors or investors, planners or doers. With the right structure and mindset, they can be all of the above — and more.

“We’re not here to replace the market, We’re here to make sure the market serves the transition — and the people behind it.”
Stéphane Péré, AREC Occitanie's Executive Director