French solar power company Third Step Energy (TSE) has switched on what it calls the 2nd largest solar PV power plant in France with 152 MW capacity, in partnership with German solar EPC & developer Enerparc. The largest solar power facility in the European nation is still 300 MW Cestas Solar Farm commissioned by Neoen in 2015.
The TSE project is located on 155-hectare space in Marville on a former NATO military base used by the Canadian Air Forces previously. It is equipped with 364,000 bifacial solar modules and is capable of generating around 160 GWh annually over its 30-year life.
The western half of the plant was commissioned in May 2021, and the eastern half came online in early September 2021. Enerparc owns the eastern half of the facility.
Under a partnership with CDC Biodiversite, a subsidiary of Caisse des Depots (CDS), TSE said it has planned to conduct a very ambitious program for the preservation and redeployment of biodiversity through deartificialisation of soils, restoration of a mosaic of grasslands, and the limitation of invasive plant species.
The company has also delegated the management of grassed areas on site of the Marville Solar Power Station to a young, local sheep farmer in organic farming.
"The Marville power station will allow very high electricity production when there is the slightest sunshine," said TSE's Managing Director Pierre-Yves Lambert. "This is a successful conversion that takes into account existing activities such as the aerodrome, biodiversity and agricultural activity."