French renewables company Q ENERGY has announced a 74.3 MW solar project in France's Haute-Marne region, calling it the largest floating PV power plant in Europe to date.
It has partnered with Solutions 30 Sud-Ouest (ex- Sotranasa), Ciel & Terre International and Perpetum Energy to realize the plant. The consortium won this project under France's PPE2-2 tender in August 2022.
Its original installed capacity was 66 MW, but with an improved design it has been scaled to 74.3 MW. The project design will see the facility covering 127-hectare site of former gravel pits that haven't been in use since 2020.
The Les Illots Blandin Solar Farm is coming up on the site of a former quarry and will be equipped with a total of 134,649 solar modules fixed on floats to form 6 islands anchored to the banks or to the bottom of the flooded pits. Locally manufactured floating structures will be used for the project.
Q ENERGY says it will use sustainable materials to minimize environmental impact while maximizing energy efficiency.
"Les Ilots Bladin is a wonderful example of how water areas can make an important contribution to the energy transition," said Managing Director of Q ENERGY France Jean-Francois Petit. Calling floating PV a strategic growth sector for Q Energy, the management says it has developed 300 MW floating PV projects pipeline in France since 2018.
Construction on site is expected to last around 18 months once it begins before the end of September 2023. Provisional commissioning is scheduled for Q1/2025.
In September 2022, Q ENERGY inaugurated a hydrovoltaic prototype project with 9.3 kW capacity calling it France's very 1st project of this kind (see Q Energy France Sets Up Hydrovoltaic Project).
Floating solar, along with other advanced solar module applications, such as BIPV, agrivoltaics among others, will be discussed at length during TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on Advanced Module Applications on September 26, 2023. Registrations to the event are free and can be done here.
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