[Lille, 27 December 2023] Ciel & Terre, pioneer in floating solar power, launched the construction of a brand-new project in France, located in Saint-Savin, south-east of Lyon, France. With this new 11MW floating solar project, the company is building its first French power plant using aiR Optim technology.
Ciel & Terre’s 100MWp floating solar projects in Europe begin with the Saint-Savin project in France.
For 2024, 100 MW have already been signed by Ciel & Terre’s EMEA team and some are already under construction in Europe. The Saint-Savin flotovoltaic project will be installed on a quarry lake, more precisely a gravel pit, which is to be upgraded through the production of renewable energies. Energ’Isère develops the project and works in collaboration with Ciel & Terre alongside GenSun for all aspects of the floating solar platform construction. When completed, the project will represent 11MWp and form a single island in the middle of the lake.
For this project, Ciel & Terre is offering a turnkey floating solution. This includes sizing the floating platform and designing the anchoring system. The company also supplies and installs the floating structure and its anchoring system.
This is the first French floating solar power plant to use aiR Optim technology. Several other international projects using the technology are currently being installed around the world such as in Brazil, India and recently in the Netherlands.
Floating solar, a suitable solution for producing green energy on quarry lakes.
For the project’s conception and design, site conditions and respect for the basin’s environment were a priority. Indeed, this floating solar project is installed on a quarry lake still in operation.
“Floating solar is not standard. Indeed, each project is different and requires considering the site characteristics,” explained Marie Bonte, Ciel & Terre’s project manager for Saint-Savin’s project. “We have considered all criteria and parameters provided to design the FPV plant and arrange the construction site to fit with the quarry activity to keep its operation fully active.” continues Marie.
Indeed, floating solar is perfectly compatible with other activities such as mining or quarrying, and Ciel & Terre can tailor the development of such projects to the needs of the site.
For this project, Ciel & Terre will install the new version of its Hydrelio technology, the aiR Optim. This new version results from more than 13 years of experience in floating solar. Year after year, Ciel & Terre’s R&D department continuously seeks FPV structure improvements based on 300 projects’ return on experience.
The aiR Optim version facilitates the operation of the power plant thanks to a new float design that makes it easier to operate on, manage wires and install junction boxes and/or string inverters. The technology is also compatible with almost all photovoltaic panels on the market. Finally, the solution is highly modular, offering a wide range of configurations to suit each project and its performance requirements.
