France’s power utility pledges $118 million to cool schools

PARIS – French state-owned utility EDF said on June 26 it would allocate €80 million (S$117.9 million) to equip schools, nurseries and daycare centres with cooling systems to help them cope with future heatwaves.

Most French schools are not designed to withstand extreme temperatures and lack air conditioning.

A record-breaking heatwave this week forced the closure of thousands of schools, while those that remained open have struggled to teach pupils in sweltering classrooms.

EDF said half of the budget would fund more than 100,000 items of equipment – such as fans, misting devices and air conditioning units – across more than 10,000 establishments by the end of September 2026.

The remainder will be distributed in lump sums of €10,000 per facility to help finance cooling systems until the end of June 2027.

“As heatwaves increasingly affect our country, we wanted to take concrete action by helping schools, nurseries and daycare centres equip themselves with both immediately available cooling solutions and longer-term improvements,” EDF CEO Bernard Fontana said in a statement.

French teaching unions on June 25 called for a strike to protest “unacceptable working conditions”.

Some parents have resorted to makeshift solutions to cool their children’s classrooms, using chalk-based coatings on windows or attaching emergency blankets to them. AFP