floating photovoltaic power plants more and more widespread in France

A few kilometers from Avignon, on an artificial lake dug for raw materials, we see a field of floating solar panels, capable of supplying almost 5,000 homes. It is the largest floating plant built in France by Akuo Energy. “It is an assembly of floats between them which make it possible to accommodate the panels and which are anchored to the bottom using moorings “, details Clémence Marcueyz, the head of development.

After the roofs, after the fields or the forests, floating solar panels are more and more widespread in France. It is found today on lakes or old quarries. A solution to the surface problem and a way to prevent the conflicts of use which multiply with wind power.

Floating solar is still limited in France. There are a few projects in the Hautes-Alpes or the Rhône. But it partly makes it possible to respond to a space problem for large installations. Xavier Daval is president of the Solar Commission at the Renewable Energies Union. According to him, when you remove forests and farmland, only 9% of accessible space remains for solar panels. “We have a land issue in France but I would say it is artificial”, explains this specialist. The rules for the deployment of solar means that the only territories where the deployment is facilitated or encouraged are the 9% of the French artificial territory. “

“This means that de facto we create a kind of stress on access to land since 91% of French soil is inaccessible to us.”

Xavier Daval, Renewable Energies Union

to franceinfo

For Akuo Energy, the first floating plant serves as a pilot site. This system is highly developed in Japan, and there is potential in France according to Éric Scotto, co-founder of the company. “The inventory we made is 10 gigawatts, so it’s absolutely colossal, less than 10 km from a connection station on old flooded quarries, artificial ponds, capping ponds. You will see, EDF is going to build the first floating power station on an altitude dam “, he predicts. The establishment of solar accelerated in 2021. But the sector is far behind the objectives set by the government.