Boralex commissions its first floating solar farm in France
Maryam Farag
Industry Energy energy environment manufacturer manufacturing solar farm solar panels Sustainability
Photo: Boralex Inc.
Boralex Inc. announced that it has commissioned its first floating solar farm, in Peyrolles-en-Provence, in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône.
The facility consists of 43,000 photovoltaic panels for a total installed capacity of 12 MWac, assembled into a 12-hectare island in the “Chapeliers” basin, a former gravel pit undergoing a global redevelopment operation.
The site will produce more than 22 GWh per year to meet the energy needs of some 6,400 households. The project was selected under the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE 4) call for tenders for period 7 and thus benefits from a feed-in premium contract for 20 years.
“The Peyrolles-en-Provence project is the result of extensive engineering work and consultations with stakeholders,” said Nicolas Wolff, Vice-President and General Manager, 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.”
The floating solar project originates from the vision of 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.
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.
