The Diplomat
Iberdrola has been awarded four agrovoltaic projects in the renewable energy innovation tenders issued by the French Ministry of Energy Transition, the company said in a statement.
The projects will have a total capacity of 12 megawatts (MW) and will aim to care for the environment and improve agriculture and livestock farming in the areas where they are implemented, contributing through innovation to “normalise the coexistence of the energy and agricultural sectors”.
The tendering of these projects has been carried out through contracts for difference (CfD), so that a price per megawatt hour (MWh) higher than the market value has been set for the next twenty years, thus compensating for the economic efforts involved in environmental protection.
The first of Iberdrola’s projects to win the French tender, called Kirch, aims to improve animal welfare and the quality of the pastures that feed the cattle on the land where the photovoltaic panels will be located, thereby increasing the quality of the dairy products from the organic farm.
In addition, the panels will be placed at a minimum height of 1.5 metres, allowing the cows to take shelter underneath to combat the heat. The solar panels will also have an innovative system for collecting rainwater, storing it and using it when needed for irrigation.
The other three Iberdrola projects tendered, ‘Maubec’, ‘Lapenche’ and ‘Solomiac’, will seek to improve the performance of agricultural plantations through the use of rotating photovoltaic panels, as these will protect crops from frost in winter and from the intense rays of the sun in summer.
The French tender has awarded a total of 172 MW in 66 projects with an average capacity of 2.6 MW, with Iberdrola’s projects, with 3 MW each, receiving the maximum capacity awarded.
In line with Iberdrola’s commitment to innovation in France in recent years, the company plans to invest more than 4 billion euros by 2025 in renewable projects in this country.
With a presence in eight cities, including Paris and Marseille, Iberdrola has 118 MW of operational onshore wind power generation in France. In addition, with its wind and photovoltaic project growth plan, it plans to install between 700 and 900 MW of additional capacity by 2030.
