Agrivoltaics: a rural "El Dorado" or a potential "bubble"?

What development?

Agrivoltaics, included in the 2023 law to accelerate renewable energies so that France can achieve its decarbonization objectives, consists of producing electricity above a "significant" agricultural crop.

Only 200 agrivoltaic projects are active in France, without representing "very large areas," notes Christian Dupraz, a researcher at INRAE ​​in Montpellier, who originated the concept of "agrivoltaism" in 2008. But more than 2.000 projects are under consideration, he adds.

France Agrivoltaïsme, the sector's representative association, mentions "several thousand" potential projects for this "agriculture of the future."

According to Mr. Dupraz, 300.000 hectares of agrivoltaics, or 1% of the French agricultural area, would be enough to produce "as much electricity as our 57 nuclear reactors."

What benefits?

The farmer can expect additional income, as well as protection for livestock and plants against climatic hazards (hail, heat, frost, etc.).

"The yellow kiwi thrives in the photovoltaic greenhouse; it thrives in the shade," says Maxime Pallin, a farmer in Le Temple (Gironde).

His 4-hectare greenhouse was fully financed (5 to 6 million euros) by an energy company, which repays itself with the electricity produced.

Other schemes provide an income for the farmer, between 2.000 and 3.000 euros per year per hectare over several decades, according to France Agrivoltaïsme.

The costs of electricity production, at around 70 euros per MW/h, are very competitive, much more so than panels installed on roofs, for example.

What risks?

"Crop yields decrease with the shade from the panels," warns Christian Dupraz, by an average of 30% if a plot is covered at 40%, the ceiling set by the 2023 law.

However, this text imposes a maximum yield reduction of 10% to avoid "alibi" crops. The Peasant Confederation, opposed to agrivoltaics, denounces the risk of food production "set aside" as a "by-product of energy production."

To remedy this, Christian Dupraz suggests "reducing the coverage rate" or having mobile panels that let light through at the necessary times.

The other risk is speculative: energy companies are increasing their efforts to pre-empt agricultural land.

Christian Dupraz describes a "Wild West," an "El Dorado" with more than a million hectares pre-contracted in France, ten times more than the area likely to be equipped in the next 25 years. "It's a bubble that will generate disappointments," he judges.

"There is a strong enthusiasm" in Gironde against the backdrop of the wine crisis, confirms Violette Chanudet, agrivoltaics officer at the Chamber of Agriculture, who warns of "not very secure contracts" for farmers and the importance of a fair distribution of income.

In Vienne, nearly a hundred applications cover 2.000 hectares. "Multiply that by a hundred departments, and you're at 200.000 hectares," points out Pascal Lecamp, a member of parliament (MoDem) and rapporteur for a bill for "reasonable" agrivoltaics in the face of its "perverse effects."

According to the association Les Prés Survoltés, which brings together 300 local opponents, 600 hectares of land were purchased at 7.000 euros per hectare in Adriers, double the usual price, at the risk of excluding young farmers from access to land.

What obstacles?

France Agrivoltaïsme deplores the slow processing of applications, between 3 and 5 years, and the long waiting lists for a source substation connecting the installation.

The National Council for the Protection of Nature is concerned about "the very rapid and uncoordinated deployment" of these projects because of their "impact (...) on biodiversity."

Benoît Moquet, vice-president of Prés Survoltés, also denounces "visual nuisances" and "heat sinks".

"Signs, yes, but not in the fields. We need the fields to feed ourselves," emphasizes this retired doctor, himself approached by an energy company eyeing his plot.

"We need to control the size" of the projects, responds France Agrivoltaïsme, which points out that "they are much less visible than wind turbines."

What future ?

The Lecamp bill, currently adopted in committee, aims to limit projects to 10 megawatts peak.

"The first way to share the value is to distribute it across the territory," said this parliamentarian, also proposing that this windfall be taken from the fund to be redistributed to all farmers.

France Agrivoltaïsme suggests short local circuits to supply farms or public services.

In the 85% of agricultural land far from connection points, "we can build small power plants" for "collective self-consumption," confirms Christian Dupraz.

"Agrivoltaics will not save agriculture," he concludes, but it "can help certain farms" and "greatly consolidate the French electricity mix."