Romande Energie, the Swiss utility, has announced signing its 1st power purchase agreement (PPA) for an agrivoltaic project with the local discount supermarket chain Denner. The entire output from the new plant's installation will be sold to the retail chain under the agreement, shared the utility.
Located in Conthey in the Canton of Valais, the agrivoltaic plant is scheduled to become operational by mid-2025.
According to the utility, the agrivoltaic plant will initially provide storm protection for around 3,700 sq. m. of strawberries and raspberries and eventually generate around 600 MWh/annum.
Romande was encouraged by the 'compelling results' of a trial at Conthey with Agroscope and agrivoltaic technology company Insolight to invest in this new project of undefined capacity. The trial project, also in Conthey, was commissioned in 2021 on a large scale. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) backed pilot is covering the land used for strawberry and raspberry production. It will be studied for a period of 4 years to analyze and optimize the installation.
It now aims to adopt the same business model at other renewable energy generating facilities.
For Denner, the solar PPA ensures clean and fixed prices for several years for a portion of its supply, cushioning it from volatile market prices of electricity.
The supermarket chain is also looking at this partnership to further its energy transition and lower its carbon footprint. It is already a corporate offtaker for Axpo's 2.2 MW alpine solar plant (see Largest Alpine Solar Plant Online In Switzerland).
"With this project we will help to meet the goals of the federal government's Energy Strategy 2050 targets. We want to champion renewable energies and are delighted to be joining forces with Romande Energie for this agrivoltaic plant," said Denner's Interim CEO, Adrian Bodmer.
While comparatively new, the agrivoltaic solar application is becoming interesting for European corporates who are steadily investing in it. Recently, Qair signed a direct PPA for its French agrivoltaic project in France with yeast producer Lesaffre 18-year (see France's Qair Bags 18-Year Corporate Solar PPA Contract).