VINCI and concessions: 100 years of experience

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From the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th, SGE and GTM supported and prepared for two major revolutions: electricity and the car.

Firm believers in the concession system, the two companies had to adapt to both World Wars, several economic crises, decolonisation and the changing liberal attitudes of French governments.

1900 - 1916

  • The expansion of electricity ran into a stumbling block: lack of public funding. The concession approach seemed to be the appropriate way to create electricity generation, transmission and distribution business activities.
  • From 1900, Girolou and GTM, experienced in building this new kind of infrastructure, decided to attack the whole new market they saw emerging, beyond works contracts.
  • From the outset, Giros and Loucheur built an electricity generation and distribution company, whose customers came from the electrification of industry and the railways.
  • In 1905, SGE marked its interest in the downstream part of the market by signing the urban lighting concession for Roubaix and then the Roubaix-Tourcoing tram system.
  • In 1907, EENF (Energie Electrique du Nord de la France) was created and became the energy supplier of the two above-named companies. EENF’s annual growth rate was over 50% for several years. In 1910, Compagnie Electrique de la Loire et du Centre was created.
  • During the same period, SGE worked with the Fougerolles brothers and Adrien Palaz on the hydroelectric facilities on the River Durance and River Isère.
  • In 1909, a company by the name of “Le Matériel Roulant” won the Haute Vienne local railway concession. Everyone believed firmly in the future of local railways and, in 1911, the Basses Pyrénées local railway was created, followed by that of Haute Garonne in 1913.
  • EENF opened the Wasquehal power station in 1914, the biggest in France at that time.
  • During all those years, GTM invested initially in the water and wastewater sectors. Its first management contract, in charge of wastewater collection and treatment for the Marseilles municipality, ran from 1890 to 1948. Then, gradually, GTM participated in the creation of various power generation companies, including EESO in south-west France and EELM on the Mediterranean coast, while continuing to pursue growth in water supply and distribution.
  • In 1899, GTM formed Société d’Exploitation et des Forces Motrices de Grasse and participated in the creation of Société d’Exploitation des Tramways in Toulon.
  • In 1903, GTM also succumbed to the temptation of local railways, creating Société des Chemins de Fer de la Bedoule, which linked the quarries to the east of Marseilles to the PLM network.
  • EELM grew strongly between 1905 and 1913, absorbing Forces Motrices des Alpes Maritimes in 1905 and its south-west counterpart in 1906.
  • The time leading up to the First World War was a period of international expansion, which saw SGE and GTM win concession contracts in Turkey (roads and lighting in Constantinople), Spain, Russia and Italy (railways). The war led to a withdrawal from these projects and increasing investment in the power generation sector, which was handicapped for several years by a lack of coal. Saint Etienne, with its wealth of coal and located a good distance from the front, became the capital of electricity generation.
  • It became apparent that tramways and local railways were not very profitable, and the motorcar emerged as a competitor.

1916 - 1939

  • SGE and GTM tried to relaunch their international expansion. They revitalised the Italian projects, which came to an end finally in 1931. Creation of SFE (GTM, SGE, Fougerolle and BNCI) to build the Port of Alexandretta in Syria.
  • Gradual withdrawal from the tramway companies.
  • Acquisition of the German-held interests in Forces Motrices du Rhin.
  • Very few concession contracts were awarded during this period, the government preferring control by public or semi-public companies.

1950 - 1960

  • France’s liberation and its political trends did nothing to improve the situation for concessions. Local authorities did, however, apply the principle to solve a totally new problem: car parks.
  • GTM emerged as a pioneer in this field: in Paris, the Esplanade des Invalides car park opened in 1962 and Champs Elysées-George V car park in 1965, followed by the first car parks beyond the capital in subsequent years.
  • Two other players helped to boost the revival of concessions: Sogea and Sogeparc. Merged with CGST, Sogepag and then GTM, they contributed a significant proportion of the 800,000 parking spaces operated under the VINCI Park brand.

1970 - 1990

  • France’s motorway network development had fallen a long way behind. The Chalandon Law authorised motorway concessions in 1970. In 1969, two tenders proposed the concession for Paris–Le Mans and Paris–Poitiers. They were won by Cofiroute, which became France’s first private concession operator in 1977.
  • With expertise recognised the world over, VINCI operated motorway concessions in Chile, Thailand and Canada.
  • The adventure continued with the Stade de France, the River Severn crossings, the Confederation Bridge, Vasco da Gama Bridge and the Rion–Antirion bridge, as well as the Prado Carénage tunnel.
  • Airport infrastructure operation became the latest sector to adopt the concession model, with contracts in France and Cambodia.