“Barely 1% of the area of the Dordogne” can receive wind turbines, said the prefect of the Dordogne Jean-Sébastien Lamontagne on France Blue Perigord this Thursday, October 6. morning guest
he wanted to reassure before launching in front of elected officials, associations and project leaders a consultation on the development of renewable energies in the department.
Almost 10,000 hectares where it is possible to put wind turbines
Data is simple. The Dordogne now produces 18.4% of its energy consumption from renewables, well below the regional average of 26%. The government has set the objective of increasing to 50% by 2030. For this, the State plans above all to develop wind, solar and methanisation.
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Dordogne prefecture
Today, there are no wind turbines in the Dordogne, even if two projects are authorized and all remedies exhausted, one in Saint-Aulaye-Puymangou authorized in 2021, and the other in Champagne-et-Fontaine, authorized in 2019, five masts each. Work has not yet started, neither for one nor for the other. The prefecture revealed a map (see image above) of potential wind farm areas in the Dordognethat is to say where it would theoretically be possible to build wind turbines, because we are not in a protected natural area, far from airports and military overflight zones, and more than 500 meters from dwellings .
This area represents only 1% of the territory of the Dordogne, i.e. almost 10,000 hectares, especially concentrated in the forest massif of the Double and in the green Périgord and particularly the Nontronnais. On 6% of the territory in all, it would be possible by law to install wind turbines, but it would be “very complicated” according to the prefect and the projects would have very little chance of succeeding.
Photovoltaic already has a “dynamic” in the Dordogne
The prefecture estimates that there is much more potential for the development of photovoltaicsand Jean-Sébastien Lamontagne counts “give a boost” at “a dynamic already at work”. The Dordogne is the 18th sunniest department in France, and there are already 5202 photovoltaic installations in the department. Production has increased from 148 gigawatt hours in 2020 to 210 gigawatt hours in 2021. To go further, the State wants to develop the“agrivoltaism”with solar panels installed on agricultural sheds or directly on agricultural surfaces with solar parks.
The other sector which has potential in Périgord is methanisers. They are 11 in number today in the Dordogne, including 10 on farms and another, that of Breuilh
, which is an industrial methanizer. Seven others are planned, all led by farmers. Methanisers currently produce 23.5 gigawatt hours per year in the Dordogne, but the State services estimate that 380 gigawatt hours could be produced per year by recovering all agricultural effluents and intermediate crops.
“A consultation phase opens until the end of November for those who would like to contribute to the process”, explains the prefect. Citizens can find out by reading thepractical guide to renewable energies
published by the prefecture and available online, then “react” and “to alert” until November 30, by writing to a dedicated email address: [email protected].