Gwénaëlle Deboutte
Agrivoltaics for viticulture
French specialist Sun’Agri installed a pilot facility on five hectares in southern France in 2018. Its goal is to protect the vines from weather hazards and to improve the quality of the wine by lowering its alcohol content. The first harvest took place in mid-September.
France’s second largest PV plant comes online
Built by the developers TSE and Enerparc, the facility has a capacity of 152 MW and is located in Marville, in northeastern France.
France’s largest PV carport is under construction
A 29 MW solar carport is being built by Engie at the factory of car manufacturer Stellantis in Sochaux. The plant is scheduled to begin commercial operation in October 2022.
Accelerated growth for French solar market, 1.36 GW of new PV systems deployed in H1
The French solar market is currently being driven by the utility-scale segment. In the first quarter of the year, newly deployed PV systems totaled 713 MW and in the second quarter their combined capacity reached 654 MW.
France approves new climate law, including several measures to support PV
The Climate and Resilience Law was officially promulgated and published in the official journal on August 24. For solar, several measures could have a direct impact on the development of projects in the years to come.
Public debate begins on France’s largest solar-plus-storage project
The 1 GW Horizeo project includes a solar plant, battery storage, a green hydrogen production unit, a data center, and an agrivoltaic facility. It is being planned near Saucats, a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
France launches multiple solar tenders
On August 5, the French energy regulator published the bidding rules for a new series of solar and renewable energy tenders. The application deadline is between October and December 2021.
Hanwha Q Cells acquires 5 GW project pipeline in France
South Korea-based solar module manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells has agreed to acquire French renewable energy developer RES Méditerranée (RES France) from U.K.-based company RES for €730 million.
Legendre to build 50 MW solar plant in Mali
The €50 million project is planned to begin commercial operations in 2023.
A tribute to our colleague Joël
Dear readers, It is with great sadness that we have learned of the sudden death of our colleague Joël Spaes, on Sunday. An accomplished professional in the energy industry, he joined pv magazine France in 2019 to report on news and other developments in the solar photovoltaic sector. His kindness, his great intelligence, his keen […]
