in Savoie, a pilot park to conquer a nascent market

The scale of the floating solar park, inaugurated a few days ago in the town of Portes-de-Savoie (73) by the Enercoop AuRA cooperative (supplier and producer of green electricity) and the Isérois ARaymond Energies, is ultimately relatively modest: 2,000 m² of solar panels, 400,000 euros of investment carried by Enercoop, for an installed power of 264 kWp, capable of producing 310 MWh/year. That is the equivalent of the consumption of 80 homes. Much lower than other parks already installed in France, notably that of Perlhes in Haute-Marne, with its 127 hectares of solar panels.

But, in reality, the issue of this solar park (a first for Enercoop AuRA, as for ARaymond) was not so much the number of kilowatts produced as the demonstration as the concept developed by the industrialist ARaymond – from an innovation patented by the start-up HeliosLite (Bourget-du-Lac), for which it acquired the exclusive and worldwide license -, was financially and technically relevant, and therefore duplicable.

Local manufacturing micro-factories

ARaymond Energies, the subsidiary of the ARaymond group (specialist in automotive fasteners; 1.6 billion euros in turnover in 2023) created in 2013 around the development and manufacturing of fasteners intended to fix solar panels on structures, has been working on the subject of floating solar for three years.

After five very small floating power plants deployed in R&D mode, this first truly operational park, commissioned and operated by Enercoop, is the culmination (and the industrial pilot) of this R&D work. It presents several innovations compared to the technologies available on the market.

First the material used for the floats of the structure. Usually made of plastic, the 100 floats of this solar park are made of recycled aluminum, from local resources.

“The carbon footprint of their manufacturing is therefore smaller. In addition, their impact on the environment is limited since there is no release of microplastics into the water and the surrounding environment,” assures Quentin Rabut, head of the floating solar parks activity for ARaymond Energies.

And then, these floats were manufactured on site, in spaces set up in three containers. “Usually, floats are manufactured in traditional factories and then transported to site. Except that it actually amounts to transporting air”observe Quentin Rabut.

The industrialist, rather accustomed to large manufacturing factories, has therefore this time imagined a model of micro-factories that can be easily moved, duplicated and operated with local, temporarily hired labor.

On the local community side, the president of the Cœur de Savoie community of communes, Béatrice Santais, explains that she believes in the relevance “decentralized electricity production”. Cœur de Savoie mediated with the fishermen's association using the body of water on which the park was installed. “It represents less than 7% of the total surface area, Ademe studies show that below 40%, there is no impact on the natural ecosystem,” explains Stéphane Eyraud, head of the energy transition service of the community of municipalities.

A booming market

For ARaymond Energies, the challenge now is to succeed in convincing larger project leaders, in France and in Europe. She will find on her way the Lille Ciel et Terre, pioneer and leader in structures for floating photovoltaics.

It is also the latter which was responsible for the construction of the floating solar power plant in Saint-Savin, in Isère. This will be the first installation of this type in the department. Its scale is significant: 11 MWp installed on a body of water that appeared during the operation of a sand quarry. It will produce around 13GWh/year, the equivalent of the annual consumption of 6,000 people. SEM Energ'Isere has entrusted the Lyon energy company Elmy with the task of marketing this energy on the energy markets. For the latter, this operation represents its first realization in terms of floating photovoltaics.

The market, still nascent, promises to be important and should offer enough to satisfy the appetites of several players. According to the World Bank, the European floating solar potential would be 204 GWp, including around twenty in France. However, according to the 2023 report from the Solar Power Europe association, only 5 Gwc were installed at the end of 2022 (mainly in the Netherlands).

Faced with the need to accelerate the energy transition, floating solar farm projects are increasing. As an illustration, Elmy, for example, claims 100 MW of floating solar projects signed or under construction in Europe. In this context, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region intends to position itself.

“The region is ideally placed to be a territory in which to deploy this innovative sector and thus make up part of its delay in meeting its renewable energy deployment objectives (13GWp announced for 2050, only 1.8 GWp connected at the end of 2022 Editor's note)”it is thus indicated in a report published in June 2023 by the regional directorate of environment, planning and housing Auvergne Rhône-Alpes. Apart from the two projects mentioned above, only one floating solar park has been operational so far: that of the CNR built in 2019 on Lake Madone in the Rhône.