2023-08-09 09:30:05
On March 10, 2023, the law to accelerate the production of renewable energies (APER law) was published in the Official Journal. This law also marks the birth of a new sector: the French agrivoltaism sector. To celebrate its 2 years of existence, the France Agrivoltaisme association has just published a guide to support project leaders in the development of a reasoned and sustainable agrivoltaisme.
In recent years, there has been growing interest from the photovoltaic sector for agricultural land. Since 2020, thousands of projects have thus germinated, with their share of promises, but also of controversies.
For this nascent sector to develop peacefully, it needs a strict framework, which takes into account the interests of all: energy companies, agricultural producers, biodiversity, as well as the actors of the territories.
This framework now exists. The various decrees are being finalized and reference documents have already been published by ADEME. AFNOR certification also offers an Agrivoltaisme Culture label.
This guide to good CSR practices for agrivoltaism is part of the logical continuation of this construction of the agrivoltaic sector.
What is agrivoltaism?
The APER law finally brings a clear framework for photovoltaic installations on agricultural land. She thus defines agrivoltaism as “an installation for the production of electricity using the radiative energy of the sun and whose modules are located on an agricultural plot where they contribute in the long term to the installation, maintenance or development of agricultural production. »
In addition, the installation must bring directly to the plot, at least one of these four services:
improved agronomic potential and impact; adaptation to climate change; hazard protection; improving animal welfare.
Beyond the positive contributions, this law also sets limits by specifying that the installation must not carry “a substantial interference with one of the services” previously mentioned, or “limited damage to two of these services. »
Another important point: any installation that does not allow agricultural production to remain the main activity is not considered as agrivoltaism, as well as an installation that is not reversible.
Clearly, energy production must not take precedence over agricultural production or lead to speculation and must remain a tool at the service of agriculture.
A guide to support project leaders
The guide proposed by France Agrivoltaisme is the result of discussions within the CSR commission of France Agrivoltaisme between representatives of the Agriculture, Energy and Agrivoltaic Technologies colleges.
The recommendations that are proposed are intended to allow a harmonious development of the sector with consideration of the environmental, social, societal and economic concerns of CSR for each project.
Here is the list of the 10 good practices proposed in the guide.
A first deliverable that calls for others
The best practices in the guide are the fruit of initial work by the CSR commission of France Agrivoltaisme. And these works call for others!
Also, three new working groups have been set up to look further into such important subjects as economic modelling, insurance, consultation, but also the aspect of contractualisation.
So much work necessary to preserve the interests of the promoters of agricultural projects and strengthen the sustainability of the activity, in particular through transmission.
Because we must not forget that if agrivoltaic technologies are simply “guests” of our agricultural land, they are for at least 20 or 30 years. The question of the transmission of projects over at least two generations of farmers must therefore be seriously considered!
The results of the next work of the CSR commission should arrive quickly, since a consultation guide should be published by the end of 2023, as well as recommendations concerning contractualization.
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