Voltalia has signed PPAs for the production of two solar parks under development in France with CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research).
The particle accelerators that CERN operates on both sides of the French-Swiss border near Geneva consume large amounts of electricity.
CERN’s renewable electricity purchase commitments will avoid the emission of 8,775 tonnes of CO2 per year from Voltalia’s solar power plants.
Under the terms of the Corporate PPAs, CERN will purchase the production of two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 26.8MW, currently under development in the south of France, for 15 years.
The combined production of these two plants will be equivalent to the consumption of 19,400 inhabitants.
CERN’s objectives are to reduce the energy required for its activities to a minimum, to improve energy efficiency and to recover waste energy.
Sébastien Clerc, director general of Voltalia, said: “Voltalia is very proud to supply renewable energy to CERN and in particular to its world-renowned particle accelerators, which have demonstrated the existence of the Higgs boson.
“Our two photovoltaic projects will make a concrete contribution to CERN’s action in favour of the environment through the production of competitive and carbon-free energy.”