Will the first floating solar power plant in France see the light of day?

Located astride the communes of Bourg-Saint-Bernard, Lanta, Prunet and Saussens, Lake Dagour provides water supply to 400 hectares of agricultural land. The public inquiry concerning the modification of the PLU of the Dagour Lake area (municipality of Bourg-Saint-Bernard) into a zone dedicated to renewable energies is continuing. This involves installing a floating photovoltaic panel plant on the water reservoir of Lake Dagour.

This lake with an area of ​​27 hectares for which the project selected by EDF-Énergies Renouvelables provides for the installation of 7.2 hectares of floating photovoltaic panels. The lake is mainly intended for the irrigation of fields managed by the land and land consolidation association (27 farmers). It often empties in summer, a phenomenon accentuated by global warming.

The planned installation would cover the surface still in water like a lid. EDF-Renewable Energy plans to allow certain panels to rest on the ground. The floating stations would be anchored by weighted cables at the bottom of the reservoir and elastic cables secured to the banks. The Les Lacs du Lauragais association fears impacts on biodiversity and water quality. According to the CNRS, no scientific impact study on gravel pits will be published for 5 to 10 years. For Claire Pelissier, president of the association, “many users such as fishermen, hikers and families in search of nature would be deprived of these lakes. Our natural and rural heritage would risk losing its authenticity.”

Lake Bourg-Saint-Bernard is the first reservoir on a watercourse in France to be the subject of this type of project. The Land Consolidation Association specifies that “in a context of critical climate change for the management of water resources and faced with the needs for modernization work on the reservoir, the floating solar power plant project on Lake Dagour, carried out with EDF Renewables was designed to enhance the surface of the lake, ensure the sustainability of local agricultural activities through new economic resources, while contributing to the energy transition.”