- Voltalia has commissioned its 1st agrivoltaic solar project in France’s Saint-Etienne-du-Grès
- It uses dynamic trackers on 4.5 hectares of land, and holds a 20-year power sales agreement
- The company at the end of 2020 held a pipeline of 9.7 GW of which solar has a 61% share
French renewable energy company Voltalia has energized a solar power project on agricultural land with 3 MW capacity in France’s Saint-Etienne-du-Grès in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. It is the company’s maiden project in the agrivoltaic space.
Located in an open field, the 3 MW Cabanon Agrivoltaic Plant was built with participatory funding with €700,000 contributed mostly from nearby residents and neighboring areas. It has a 20-year power sales agreement.
The project is built on 4.5 hectares land with solar panels deployed 4.5 meters high using dynamic trackers that allows the passage of agricultural machinery while protecting vegetable crops from the heat optimizing agricultural production.
Speaking of trackers, TaiyangNews is organizing a virtual conference on Solar Trackers on April 13, 2021 to discuss technology improvements in the field, intending it as a launch event for our 1st Market Survey on Solar Trackers. Registrations to the event are free here.
Voltalia has also announced its financial performance for 2020, growing its annual revenues by 33% along with 50% growth in EBITDA. With the addition of 337 MW new projects in 2020, its total installed capacity reached 1.015 GW, with solar’s share being 242.7 MW, next to 739.7 MW for wind. At the end of 2020, its pipeline was a total of 9.7 GW in which 61% is dominated by solar, followed by wind with 36.1% share and other technologies at 2.9%.
It has emerged as the winner of a 100 MW solar auction in Albania with the lowest winning bid of €0.02989 per kWh (see Voltalia Wins 100 MW Albanian Solar Auction).
