When TotalEnergies announced the project to install a solar power plant at a place called Kergoat in Melgven, a town of 3,300 inhabitants near Concarneau, some people grimaced.
The land intended to accommodate the solar panels, a 10-hectare agricultural wasteland identified as such for more than 20 years, belongs to an individual.
The latter directly contacted TotalEnergies which has already created two solar power plants in South Finistère, one in Plomelin, the other in Laz.
The project would be made up of photovoltaic panels with a maximum height of 2.5 meters and would have a power of 6 MW, providing electricity to 3,000 people, excluding heating.
The energy would then be redistributed by Enedis to the inhabitants of the municipality connected to the network.
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“It is common for individuals to contact us for a renewable energy development project.
Now, there is a whole phase of environmental studies to put together a file.
An external design office has been working for several months on the census of animal and plant species nearby as well as the impact that the plant could have on these species,” explains Guillaume Sallaberry, head of the renewable energy development sector in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique.
A 30-year long lease will be signed with the owner if the project sees the light of day.
The solar power plant, if the project is successful, will only see the light of day in 4 or 5 years.
Previously, the administrative procedure was long and complex.
“For the moment, the municipality has noted the existence of the project but, at this stage, as it is private land, we do not have to intervene,” explains the mayor of Melgven, Catherine Esvant.
The question will arise when submitting the building permit.
We will then have to be careful and take everything into consideration, in particular landscape integration, environmental impact and be careful that this project does not reduce our artificialization envelope.”
According to TotalEnergies, the building permit should be submitted in 2025.
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When the residents of Kergoat learned of the project through a newsletter from TotalEnergies left in their mailbox, emotions ran high.
What about the impact of this solar power plant on the environment?
The town is already home to three wind turbines which, when the project was launched in 2015, caused much controversy.
“The only negative point could be visual.
But 90% of the project would be hidden by surrounding vegetation.
The impact is less than a wind power plant,” assures Guillaume Sallaberry.
The company has already designed two projects of this type on Laz, with a total power of 14 MW, and on Plomelin (8 MW).
Melgven would be a medium-sized solar power plant.
Solar panels capture light.
So why did you choose Brittany to install a solar power plant, this region having between 1,100 and 1,200 hours of sunshine per year, compared to 2,000 to 2,200 in the South of France?
Response from TotalEnergies: “Of course, there is more sun in the South but also a lot more dust.
In Brittany, the sensors are not bothered by this dust and can operate to the maximum of their capacities.
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