Bordeaux, September 19, 2023 – The EDF group and its partners are inaugurating an agrivoltaic demonstrator on a plot of vines. Vitisolar will make it possible to study the cohabitation between viticulture and renewable energy production, and responds to the environmental and climatic challenges of the territory.
Vitisolar is an innovative pilot project, consisting of a raised and adjustable photovoltaic structure, installed on a 2000 m2 plot of Merlot vines on the INRAE-Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Bordeaux site in Gironde. The structure was specially designed so as not to hinder the exploitation of the plot and to allow the passage of agricultural machinery.
In a wine-growing region particularly exposed to climate change, the Vitisolar project will allow the impact of solar panels on vines and their environment to be studied over five years. Parameters such as protection against climatic hazards (frost, high heat, etc.), the quality of production, yields, biodiversity, will be monitored to enrich scientific knowledge and identify agrivoltaic solutions adapted to the challenges of the territory.
Vitisolar is the result of a partnership between six players from the energy, agricultural and academic worlds: EDF, Ampex (ArcelorMittal Exosun), INRAE, the Chamber of Agriculture of Gironde, the regional federation of CUMA (Material Utilization Cooperatives Agricultural) as well as the University of Bordeaux. Vitisolar is also one of the infrastructures in the network of the National Research Center on Agrivoltaism (PNR AgriPV), created in February 2023 at the initiative of INRAE and of which EDF Renewables is a member. The project benefits from the support of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, the European Union and ADEME (Ecological Transition Agency). It is part of the Néo Terra roadmap of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region to accelerate the energy and ecological transition.
EDF and its subsidiary EDF Renouvelables have been engaged in agrivoltaism for more than five years to develop projects that meet the needs of agriculture and enable the production of renewable energy, two issues at the heart of the fight against climate change. With Vitisolar, EDF is consolidating its know-how in agrivoltaics by adopting a local and scientific approach. This project complements the studies carried out on its agrivoltaic demonstrators in Renardières, on the EDF Lab site in Seine-et-Marne, and ADELI in Gard.
EDF Renewables is currently developing around fifty agrivoltaic projects in France and particularly in New Aquitaine, such as the St-Hilaire project (82 MW) in Haute-Vienne developed with a collective of sheep breeders.
Martin Leys, Director of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Action, declared: “I am very happy to inaugurate Vitisolar today, an innovative, virtuous project, responding to the environmental and energy challenges of the region and co-constructed with all the players in the wine industry. The EDF group is thus continuing its lasting commitment alongside the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region to accelerate the energy transition in the regions. »
Philippe Mauguin, President and CEO of INRAE “The creation of this demonstrator, on a wine estate belonging to INRAE, constitutes for the scientific community a unique full-scale laboratory to reconcile efficient wine production and sustainable energy production! This project strengthens the tools made available to the entire national community, public and private actors, around the measured development of photovoltaic technology on agricultural land, federated within the National Center for Research, Innovation and Education in Agriphotovoltaism ( PNR APV) created in 2023 at the initiative of INRAE. »