Neoen has been awarded seven solar and agrisolar projects amounting to 164MWp in the latest call for tenders issued by the French government’s Energy Regulation Commission.
The developer said it ranks first in terms of capacity won in this session and remains, with 642MWp, the top awardee in the ground-mounted solar plant category for the whole PPE21 calls of tenders.
The new awards take Neoen’s secured capacity in France to over 2.5GW.
Commissioning of the solar plants is expected to be phased between 2026 and 2029, and in 2032 for 73MWp Tourneuve due to the completion of network upgrade to be undergone by the grid operator.
While developing these projects, Neoen worked closely with local and state authorities and stakeholders in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Centre-Val de Loire, Grand Est, Hauts-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions of France.
The developer said this joint effort ensures the projects are well accepted by the local communities while meeting both their energy needs and environmental goals.
Four of the schemes are agrivoltaic sites, which combine clean energy generation with agriculture.
Over half of Neoen’s solar projects in France features an agricultural element, further strengthening its expertise in this sector, it said.
Director of business development for France Guillaume Decaen said: “We are extremely proud of this achievement.
“I would like to thank all our local stakeholders for helping us obtain the necessary approvals and the farmers for placing their trust in us.
“2023 was a record year for Neoen in France, with nearly 500MW of solar and wind capacity awarded in the CRE tenders.
“We are well on track to repeat this performance in 2024 and we will continue, alongside our local stakeholders, to develop virtuous and competitive projects that accelerate the energy transition in our regions.”
Neoen chief executive Xavier Barbaro added: “I would like to congratulate the Neoen team on this success, which reflects our sustained commitment to developing high-quality projects.
“Thanks to our significant pipeline in solar, wind and storage, we are determined to further strengthen our contribution to the energy transition, in France and around the world.”