Electricité de France (EDF) and OpCore, a joint venture combining the iliad Group and InfraVia Capital Partners, have entered exclusive negotiations to develop a high-capacity data centre campus on the former Montereau-Vallée-de-la-Seine thermal plant site. The project, located in Vernou-La-Celle-sur-Seine and La Grande-Paroisse on the outskirts of Paris, represents a total investment of €4 billion ($4.31bn).
A strategic site for the digital industry
The initiative forms part of EDF’s national strategy to attract very high-power digital infrastructure to France. In March 2025, the company launched a call for expressions of interest offering pre-prepared industrial sites with accelerated grid-connection pathways to facilitate the deployment of energy-intensive computing and artificial intelligence facilities.
As France’s third-largest industrial landowner, EDF is leveraging its property portfolio and low-carbon energy mix to position itself as a central player in national digital development. Repurposing the coal-fired site closed in 2004 also aligns with the country’s wider industrial redevelopment agenda.
Operators and long-term financing
OpCore draws on more than twenty years of expertise in designing, building and operating data centres. The iliad Group contributes technological capabilities while InfraVia provides large-scale investment capacity. The development will mobilise the European supply chain and aims for environmental exemplarity, including optimised logistics flows, stronger local integration and the use of circular-economy principles.
The campus will reach several hundred megawatts of power, placing it among the continent’s largest computing infrastructures. The first phase is expected to enter service in 2027, creating several hundred direct and indirect jobs.
State support and sovereignty considerations
The French State is supporting the project through a fast-track connection mechanism for intensive computing infrastructure. Roland Lescure, Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, welcomed the investment as a strategic step for technological independence. Anne Le Henanff, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies, highlighted the priority given to building data centres on national territory.
EDF Chief Executive Officer Bernard Fontana stressed the group’s ability to supply abundant, reliable, low-carbon electricity for digital operators. Thomas Reynaud, Chief Executive Officer of the iliad Group, pointed to the importance of securing Europe’s digital infrastructure. Vincent Levita, Chief Executive Officer of InfraVia, noted that access to decarbonised energy has become a prerequisite for large-scale industrial projects.
