Boralex has commissioned its first floating solar farm, in Peyrolles-en-Provence, in France.
The 12MW plant consists of more than 43,000 panels installed on a 12-hectare “island” in the Chapeliers basin, a former gravel pit undergoing redevelopment.
The project was selected under the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE 4) call for tenders for period seven and benefits from a feed-in premium contract for 20 years.
The floating solar project originates from the idea by materials company Durance Granulats and municipality Peyrolles-en-Provence to refurbish a gravel pit on the Chapeliers site, which had reached the end of its operating life.
Durance Granulats and Peyrolles-en-Provence engaged Boralex in 2016 to develop a project and the developer launched specific studies to define and qualify the environmental, landscape and technical issues to create a project with a sustainable technological solution that is easy to operate.
In addition, through a partnership between Boralex and the Institut National de l’Energie Solaire (INES), the solar facility will be monitored, with a focus on specific measurements for at least the first three years of operation.
This research will contribute to enhancing floating solar technology and allow for the optimisation of the overall performance of the site.
“The Peyrolles-en-Provence project is the result of extensive engineering work and consultations with stakeholders,” said Nicolas Wolff, vice president and general manager of Boralex Europe.
“Our teams were able to take advantage of this innovative technology to offer a technico-ecological solution adapted to its natural environment, and thus meet the needs expressed by Durance Granulats and the municipality of Peyrolles-en-Provence.
“We are proud to see the site now generating its first electrons.”