光熱費の高騰、冬の城を直撃　フランス

【ムンシュルロワールＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス・ロワール川のほとりに立つ１２世紀の城を所有するグザビエ・ルルベさんは、今冬の暖房代が一体幾らになるのだろうかと恐れている。（写真はシャンボール城）
　フランスでは、ロシアのウクライナ侵攻の影響で天然ガス価格が高騰。昨年に比べ光熱費も大幅に上がると予想されている。
　特にロワール川沿いに点在する歴史的建造物の所有者や管理者にとって、これが頭痛の種となっている。
　ルルベさんは毎冬、ムンシュルロワール城の暖房、電気、ガス代に１万５０００～２万ユーロ（約２２０万～３００万円）を支払う。だが、今年は５倍から１０倍になる見通しだ。「とてもではないがそんな額の光熱費は支払えない」
　窓などの修繕費の予算を回すしかないと話す。
　「窓一つで１万ユーロ（約１５０万円）する。城内には窓が１４８個ある」
　ルルベさんの城から車で１時間ほど下流に行ったところには、シュベルニー城がある。
　城のウェブサイトによると、漫画「タンタンの冒険」シリーズに出て来るハドック船長が住む城のモデルで、６００年間同じ一族が所有してきた。
　城の一部には今も数人暮らしているが、他の区域や敷地には有料で見物客を受け入れている。
　シュベルニーはロワール川沿いで最も人気がある城の一つだ。城を所有するシャルルアントワーヌ・デビブレーさんによると、毎年３万～４万リットルの灯油を使う。ただ、見物客の受け入れで十分なもうけがあるため、灯油代が値上げされた分を賄うことができるという。
　熱を閉じ込めるとかびや木を食べる虫が増えてしまう恐れがあり、城の断熱性を改善することも考えてはいない。
　シュベルニー城から少し南に行くと、国有のシャンボール城がある。
　急な階段の下にある暖炉では、大きなまきが４本燃えている。見学者用の暖房設備はこれだけだ。
　だがオフィスやギフトショップなど地所内の４０軒ほどの家では暖房が使われている。
　城周辺の地所を管理するジャン・ドソンビルさんは「ここ２年で（暖房費は）倍になった。２６万ユーロ（約３８００万円）だったが２０２３年の予算では６０万ユーロ（約８８００万円）以上だ」と話す。
　今冬の暖房費は、企画展二つとフェスティバルの予算を合わせた額とほぼ同じになる。城の管理者はソーラーパネルの設置など、代替エネルギーの導入を真剣に検討し始めたという。
　地所内にある５０平方キロの森の中に数か月以内に製材所を設置し、暖房用のまきを用意する計画だ。
　それまでは、新たに導入された照明や室温を管理するＩＴシステムや、ＬＥＤ照明への切り替えで光熱費が削減されることが期待されている。
　ドソンビルさんによると、ＩＴシステムで人がいない部屋の明かりを消したり、夜間の室温を８度に維持したりすることができる。来年までに消費エネルギーを少なくとも１０％削減できると見込んでいる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/10/31-14:57）

Inside his French chateau on the riverbanks of the Loire, Xavier Leleve dreads to find out how much it will cost to heat the 12th-century building this winter.
Energy bills in France are expected to soar compared to last year, partly as a result of a hike in gas prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The prospect is particularly worrying owners and directors of large historical buildings dotted along the Loire.
Usually, Leleve pays 15,000 to 20,000 euros ($14,800 to $19,700) in heating, electricity and gas each winter to keep the Meung-sur-Loire castle up and running.
But this year, it'll be five to ten times more expensive. You simply can't start spending that much on energy, he said.
It would divert funds from other projects, including the much-needed conservation of some parts of the listed building.
In a wing of the castle closed off to the public, he pointed to the windows.
Some looked in bad shape, with duct tape covering some wooden frames and barely keeping out the outside cold.
Other windows were brand new, put in place after long discussions with the regional cultural authority on what they should look like to best respect the castle's original aesthetics.
A window costs around 10,000 euros and we have 148 of them, so you can imagine how much the window budget is, said Leleve.
- 'Bare minimum' -
An hour's drive away down the river, Charles-Antoine de Vibraye has decided the best course of action to keep his huge family home heated this winter is to do nothing at all.
The Cheverny chateau, which inspired Captain Haddock's family estate in The Adventures of Tintin, has belonged to the same family for six centuries, its website says.
Today some of the family still live in one wing of the stately home, but the rest of the building and its grounds include a restaurant and a Tintin exhibition, and are open to paying visitors.
De Vibraye says the business -- one of the most visited Loire Valley castles -- is successful enough for the family to be able to afford the extra cost of the 30,000 to 40,000 litres of heating oil needed each year.
He does not plan to increase the building's insulation either.
If you trap in the heat, you just help the possible fungi and insects that will eat up your wood, he said.
You need to limit heating to a bare minimum to not upset this healthy cycle of thermal exchanges inside a historical building, he added, though admitting a constant temperature was better for old furniture.
He said two-thirds of the building was heated, especially in the rooms that people visit and where there is historical furniture.
- New sawmill -
A little further south, four large logs burn in the chimney at the bottom of a sweeping staircase in the state-owned Chateau of Chambord, the only source of heat for visitors.
But its offices, shops and some 40 houses on its estate are heated.
The budget has doubled in two years. We've gone from 260,000 euros to more than 600,000 in the budget for 2023, said Jean d'Haussonville, the director of the surrounding estate.
The castle, one of several on the section of the Loire Valley listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, usually works with an annual budget of 30 million euros a year.
Of that, the energy bill is now expected to be equivalent to the cost of two temporary exhibitions and a festival, he said.
D'Haussonville said that had sparked serious thought about how to transition to alternative sources of energy, for example setting up solar panels on its hangars.
In the coming months, management will also build a sawmill in the chateau's 50-square-kilometre (19-square-mile) forest, which could see its wood used for heating in the long run.
Until then, managers are hoping a new IT system might help avoid unnecessary expenses and are continuing a conversion to LED lights.
It's a programme that allows you, for example, to turn off lights when there's no one in a room, and to reduce its temperature to just 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit) at night, d'Haussonville said.
He said they planned this way to have reduced their energy consumption by at least 10 percent by next year.