By
Julien Berrier
Published on
June 6, 2024 at 4:31 p.m.
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Two years after the commissioning of the Picarreau solar farm (27 ha, 62,000 panels, 19 million euros investment, 31,000 Mwh/year), the Corsica Sole company is preparing to invest again in solar energy. Jura.
On Wednesday June 5, this agrivoltaic specialist sent Thibaut Loschetter, development manager, and Joris Clerc, project manager and stage local, to present his project in preparation at a place called Combe Bercot, near Arbois , almost under the windows of the Château de Boichailles.
Or a project that would extend over 19 hafor a power ofaround 20,000 Mwh/year is the equivalent of 19% of Arbois’ electricity consumption. “We have just submitted the building permit which is currently being examined,” notes Thibaut Loschetter who does not expect construction to begin before 2026.
Oppositions
In a general context of disappearance of agricultural areas, the project necessarily raises eyebrows. Represented at the public meeting, the association Jura nature environment has already announced its intention to oppose the implementation.
In this case, it is less a question of attacking the Combe Bécot project than of denouncing the consumption of agricultural land in general. “In the Jura, there are currently 27 authorization requests for photovoltaic power plant projects, representing an area of 300 ha,” assures the activist.
Looking for land
“It was somewhat following the echoes of the project carried out in Picarreau that we began to develop contacts in this region,” explains Thibaut Loschetter.
Part of projects carried out in Corsica, Corsica sole developed in the French islands before carrying out a few projects in mainland France. HAS Picarreau in particular where Corsica sole has implemented the largest regional solar power plant.
The company is now seeking to new surfaces to be covered with solar panels. “We are primarily looking for sites degraded by human activity such as industrial wastelands, old barracks, old aerodromes,” explains Thibaut Loschetter.
However, in the Department of Jura, the research was not very fruitful.
We identified fifteen potential sites for a total area of 648 ha. But from this total it is necessary to remove 414 ha of wooded area on which there are major preservation issues; 102 ha on which the installation is incompatible, for example industrial zones reserved for future development; 50 ha where the remoteness of the land would require the network to be pulled at a cost that would not be viable. There therefore remains 80 potential ha
And again, he counts 60 ha for which a modification of local town planning plans would be essential.
Agrivoltaism: a win-win agreement?
As a result, Corsica sole like others turns to agricultural areas and more particularly meadows. “If we covered 1% of French meadows with photovoltaic panels, we would achieve the objective of 70% renewable energy in 2050,” says Thibaut Loschetter.
Corsica sole therefore places its development in that of agrivoltaism. This involves combining agriculture and electricity production on the same site, with the two activities supporting each other.
The aim of this sector is in particular to ensure the preservation of agricultural land while allowing the creation of greener energy locally.
But the idea comes up against the disappearance of agricultural land denounced by farmers and their representatives. Project manager convinced by agrivoltaism, Joris Clerc immediately specifies: “We cannot settle on agricultural land only if our project supports agricultural activity. This is precisely the situation on this project. » The identified plots also have the advantage of being located a short distance from an Enedis transformer (route de Lyon).
Diversification for the breeder
Corsica sole plans to rent for 30 years (90,000 euros per year and per hectare of rent) the meadows exploited today by a beef cattle breeder, EURL La Ronceraie of the Chapuis family based in Abergement-le-Ronce, and a meat sheep breeder, Florian Lheureux based in Grozon.
Mr. Lherbe has a herd of 500 head, he is the largest sheep breeder in the Jura, but he lacks meadows. Mr. Chapuis actually has a neighboring meadow but which is very off-center compared to the rest of the farm. The idea is therefore to allow Mr. Lheritier to graze his animals on Mr. Chapuis’ meadows.
The project therefore presents itself for breeders as a way of diversifying their sources of income while improving the working conditions of the farm. “For lack of meadows, Mr. Lheureux must cultivate wheat silage to feed his animals. More grazing possibilities mean less wheat to grow and therefore fewer inputs. »
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