SNCF and Valorem sign a green electricity purchase contract, the largest from wind power in France

Through this 25-year contract, Valorem will supply 93 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year to SNCF Énergie (a subsidiary of SNCF Voyageurs), thanks to the construction of a wind farm in Cheniers (Marne), the commissioning of which is scheduled for the fall.

This site of eight wind turbines with a total capacity of 36 megawatts (MW) will be the largest wind farm to be the subject of an over-the-counter electricity purchase and sale contract in France. Its production will cover the equivalent of the needs of the Paris-Rennes TGV link.

SNCF, the country's leading industrial consumer of electricity, has been a pioneer in France of this type of direct and long-term contracts since 2018. Also known by the English acronym "PPA", they are multiplying and offer signatories visibility on their activity by protecting them from the volatility of electricity prices on wholesale markets.

It is also for SNCF Voyageurs "the guarantee of supply of carbon-free electricity and proof of its environmental commitment", commented to AFP Richard Fécamp, general director of SNCF Énergie, who also mentions the "environmental expectations of increasingly expressed by the regions, transport organizing authorities.

The SNCF transports 11% of the country's passengers and goods for less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, underlines the group. SNCF Voyageurs in particular has announced its intention to achieve 40 to 50% renewable electricity for train traction by 2026, including 20% ​​from PPA (i.e. around twenty contracts of this type).

For Valorem, Cheniers is “an exemplary project”. Extension of a park operated by the group since 2016, it was authorized in 2021 and was not the subject of appeal, "a sign of the quality of its development and its local acceptance", underlines the Gironde company .

The signing of this contract also came at the right time to better promote the project, in a context of rising construction costs and lower profitability, explains Bertrand Guidez, deputy general director of Valorem.

The renewable energy sector “needs this type of contract to support the completion of projects”, he adds, emphasizing “the complementarity” in particular with State tenders. Valorem, which signed its 5th PPA there, must reach nine by the end of the year.

Overall, PPAs in France have so far more often concerned photovoltaic parks. But that is changing, notes Richard Fécamp, of SNCF Énergie, who judges "the production profile of wind power" to be more advantageous, because it is "constantly producing".