The Aude breeder signed a contract with Engie Green to cover 27 hectares of his farm over a period of 40 years.
Its operation is saved. By signing a 40-year contract with the operator Engie Green, Francis Auriol, almost fifty, can see it coming. “Agrivoltaic installations generate around a gross minimum wage for me per month”he congratulates himself.
The idea was born towards the end of the 2000s. It was his brother Gérard, then at the head of the family business, who initiated it. “My brother took over my parents’ suckler cow farm in 1997he says. She was in receivership. He managed to clear his debts, but the mad cow epidemic brought everything crashing down. He was unable to turn things around.”.
Sheep instead of cows
To get by, he had the idea of installing a solar energy park on the 37 hectares of the farm. History of having income. In 2021, the facilities, developed by Engie Green, are inaugurated. Ultimately on a little more than 27 hectares.
The structures not being “not suitable for cattle”Francis, who took over the farm after his brother's health problems, undertook a reconversion: he bought a flock of red label sheep. This commitment with Engie Green “allowed me to settle in after my brother and relaunch the dynamics of the operation”.
-“The banks followed me”
But, above all, he reopened the doors of the banks to him. “Thanks to this 40-year contract, the banks followed me, they allowed me to invest”he rejoices. With Engie Green, “we have, from the start, negotiated a fee which is paid annually”. This is negotiated “per hectare”. It also includes the maintenance service of the park, namely “the grinding of herbs under and between the panels”.
The fee “is not considered professional income, but private income”. If the terms of the contract remain confidential, Francis Auriol agrees to specify that it reports to him “approximately one gross minimum wage every month”. Which is not insignificant, when we know the difficulties encountered by farmers today.
“Removable” structures in 40 years
The photovoltaic panels installed on its land serve as “roofs” for his animals. “They are protected from the sun, but also from the rain”he rejoices. Moreover, “the installation of the panels did not modify the structure of the soil in any way”. Better, summer, at the height of summer, “the grass under the panels remains fresh, which is good for the animals, when those located in full sun, between the installations, are quickly burned.”
Finally, there remains the future. “It doesn't change anything. In 40 years, we will be able, if we want, to find our meadows. It will be enough to demonstrate the structures of the panels, there is nothing built in concrete here.” All “can go back to the way it was before”.
