Three French airports including Charles de Gaulle in Paris have at least partially ditched the nation’s 75 per cent nuclear powered grid for solar, in a 21-year power off-take deal. And rooftop solar will be next.
Paris-based airport operator Groupe ADP signed the PPA with GazelEnergie and solar project developer Urbasolar for the electricity supply of Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget airports.
In a statement, Groupe ADP said the three new solar plants being built by Urbasolar in the Gard, Var and Charente departments would generate around 47GWh a year between them, and cover 10 per cent of the electricity demand for the three Paris airports.
“The next step will be to produce green energy ourselves as a part of our consumption, as we already do for our heat needs,” said company deputy CEO, Edward Arkwright.
“We are already preparing the integration of photovoltaic solar energy into new infrastructure projects such as car parks and real estate buildings, as well as our Terminal 4 project,” Arkwright added.
According to PV Magazine, the airports PPA marks the fifth such deal linked to a solar power project in France.
“2020 will be the year of new impetus for the development of photovoltaic technology in France with the multiplication of PPA solar electricity supply contracts,” said Urbasolar chairman Arnaud Mine.
The solar plants are currently under construction and due to begin delivering power in 2021.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
