Neoen is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Cestas solar park near Bordeaux, still France’s most powerful solar facility with a capacity of 300MWp.
Commissioned in 2015, the park comprises almost one million photovoltaic panels and produces an average of 345GWh of electricity per year, enough to supply around 240,000 people excluding heating.
Built in under 12 months by a Franco-German consortium led by Eiffage, Schneider Electric and Krinner, the project was constructed on former forestland damaged by Storm Klaus and remains one of the largest solar parks in Europe.
Guillaume Decaen, Neoen’s director in France, said: “For the past ten years, Cestas has demonstrated that large-scale solar can be seamlessly integrated into its environment while meeting the challenges of the energy transition.”
In 2022, Neoen partnered with France’s transmission system operator RTE to launch a pilot scheme allowing Cestas to support grid voltage regulation even at night by enabling partial access to its inverters.
This makes Cestas the only solar plant in France contributing to grid stability during non-generating hours, with positive results reported for high-voltage grid operations in the Bordeaux region.
The site is managed by Eiffage Énergies Systèmes and Schneider Electric, with around ten staff maintaining daily operations and 120 sheep used for eco-grazing.
A five-hectare biodiversity zone is also maintained, featuring bird boxes, bat shelters and reptile refuges, and a kilometre-long hedgerow of 120 fruit trees was recently planted with help from local schoolchildren.
Mayor of Cestas Pierre Ducout said the facility has been “favourably received by local residents” and remains harmoniously integrated into the surrounding area.
Neoen CEO Xavier Barbaro added: “Cestas shows that large projects can play a vital role, alongside power plants of all sizes, in building an energy mix that is resilient, competitive and integrated into local communities and regions.”