The boss of Vinci Autoroutes wants solar panels along the infrastructure

"We have done work (with) the SNCF to assess (...) at 5.000 hectares the land available", or 4.000 hectares along the railway lines and 1.000 hectares on the Vinci Autoroutes network, a- he explained to the Senate's Territorial Planning Commission.

"Basically, on one hectare we can make a mega(watt), so that on these 5.000 hectares we can make 5 giga(watts), which means that by quickly mobilizing the existing land along the infrastructures, we could roughly make the equivalent of five nuclear power plants in photovoltaics", he calculated.

"This represents around 5 billion euros of investment and we are ready for it (...) both administratively, technically and financially", indicated Mr. Coppey, specifying: "We have made proposals in the state."

He called on the authorities to "simplify" the administrative procedures allowing the installation of voltaic panels along highways or railway lines.

Vinci Autoroutes operates 4.443 km of motorways, including the Autoroutes du Sud de la France, Cofiroute (towards the Atlantic coast) and Escota (in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region).

The SNCF did not react immediately to these remarks. The public group is committed to a policy of installing solar panels on the roofs and car parks of stations and workshops, or on railway wasteland.