In Marcoussis, the solar farm is co-owned

With growth of 11,5% in 2023, crowdfunding of energy transition projects is growing in France. The local authorities' bet is that by offering local residents the opportunity to invest close to home with an attractive return, they will improve the acceptance of renewable energy infrastructures.

In Marcoussis, more than 400 residents are co-owners of 20% of the park located on a wasteland, along the TGV Atlantique track. The site can produce 20,3 megawatts under optimal conditions of sunlight and temperature.

Which makes it one of the 210 solar parks greater than 10 MW listed in mainland France by Enedis, the electricity distribution network manager.

"The project was in line with my values. I wanted to invest for my town and fight against global warming by exploiting a non-recoverable surface area", explains Patrick L., a 63-year-old consultant, living in Marcoussis, who confides having invested 5.000 euros but does not wish his name to be used.

When subscribing in spring 2021, bonds were offered to Marcoussissians, with a return of 5,5% per year for 4 years, a godsend when interest rates peaked below 2%.

“The 100.000 euros offered were subscribed in a few hours,” jubilant Mayor Olivier Thomas, initiator of the project. 59 residents invested on average around 1.700 euros in the first phase.

Other subscriptions were open to residents of the urban community, then Essonne and neighboring departments, in the form of shares, with a return of 4,5% per year over four years. 424 contributors contributed nearly 1,4 million euros.

“Valuing a non-cultivable space”

“I believe a lot in solar energy. It is a major project which enhances a non-cultivable space. I am confident in this investment,” underlines Éric P., who invested 75.000 euros.

Enerfip, a platform dedicated to the energy transition and approved by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), structured the financing. It makes it possible to solicit local savings by restricting access to investors in certain geographical areas, for example villages bordering the project or neighboring departments.

“Marcoussis is one of the biggest fundraisers we have done at the local level,” says Julien Hostache, president of Enerfip.

Interest is paid once a year and the invested capital is ultimately returned, repurchased by the co-investors. The risk is limited, but not zero: a project can complete its financing but not succeed. This happened once to Enerfip, which displays a default rate of 0,11% of sums, "on nearly 500 projects", according to Julien Hostache.

This way of anchoring equipment in a territory is appreciated by elected officials and energy specialists, worried about the resistance movements which are developing against local infrastructure projects - roads, wind turbines, solar parks, etc.

Significant advantage: in the event of citizen participation, a bonus of 3 euros per MWh is applied by EDF to the rate at which the group buys the electricity produced. And this over the entire duration of the feed-in tariff, i.e. 20 years in Marcoussis, even if crowdfunding stops after four years.

That’s a boost of more than a million euros over 20 years for this park. “This bonus has had the merit of accelerating projects for five to six years, but it does not represent a significant share of the market,” tempers Mr. Hostache.

Enerfip collected 144 million euros in 2023, including 27 in December alone. Going against the trend of this method of financing in real estate, which fell by 28% last year according to the 2023 crowdfunding barometer in France published by the Mazars firm.