Ambès, a concrete example of the French energy strategy

The Ambès solar park near Bordeaux, built on a former thermal power plant, is a concrete example of the French government's strategy to catch up in terms of renewable energy.

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The Ambès solar park, located near Bordeaux, is a concrete example of the government’s strategy to make up for France’s lag in renewable energy. It is a large photovoltaic farm built on the ruins of a former thermal power plant, dismantled in 2014. With 25,000 photovoltaic panels on ten hectares, this new unit can cover the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 6,000 inhabitants.

 

The law on the deployment of renewable energy

The Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, welcomed the completion of the Ambès solar park as a concrete illustration of the government’s renewable energy strategy. The law on the deployment of renewable energies, which has been definitively adopted by the Senate, aims to limit land clearing and to support projects with minimal impact on biodiversity.

 

France’s leap forward

France must achieve 27% of electricity from renewable sources, but it has only met this commitment to the tune of 24.2% by the end of 2021, which has earned it a fine of 500 million euros from the European Union. The Ambès solar park illustrates the difference in power between the old thermal power plant and the new unit, which is far from reaching that of the old plant at its peak (1250 MW in 1972). Achieving the goal set by the law passed this week of more than 100 gigawatts of solar energy by 2050 will require a lot of space, while still being part of the net zero artificialization strategy.

 

Upcoming projects

In New Aquitaine, the leading French region in solar power production, with a connected capacity of 2,667 MW, i.e. 26% of the national total, projects to install photovoltaic farms on former wastelands are multiplying. A huge project of 1,000 hectares is still in the works in the Landes forest in Saucats. The Minister of Energy Transition wants to halve the instruction and development time for this type of project to speed up their implementation.

The Minister of Energy Transition wants to involve local residents more in projects to facilitate their acceptability. “By involving local residents and elected officials in the project, it becomes their project,” says Pannier-Runacher. In Ambès, investors have raised 200,000 euros through participatory financing.

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