An independent producer of renewable energies and 2nd actor in solar energy in France, Tenergie (Meyreuil, 100 employees, 207 million euros [249 million USD] in revenue) has been creating synergies between the agricultural world and green energy for more than 10 years, by proposing long-term solutions. One of the large-scale projects of the company is the Tenairlux© photovoltaic greenhouse designed for the Domaine Saint-Vincent in Mallemort (Bouches-du-Rhône).
Four years after the inauguration of this innovative greenhouse of 33,000 m², the feedback is more than telling. After 3 years of diversified crops (zucchinis, turnips, sweet potatoes), the farm obtained a yield of 4 tons/hectare for the first year of growing green asparagus of Provence, and a production of 3.1 GWH of “green” electricity, which is equivalent to the consumption of 700 households, excluding heating.
“This new greenhouse concept proves that it is possible to modernize a farm at a lower cost, while contributing to the production of clean and local energy. From the beginning of this project, we have constructed the specifications together with Laurent Chabert, producer and manager of the Domaine Saint-Vincent, in order to create a tool meeting his expectations perfectly. Resolutely high-performance and innovative thanks to the installation of photovoltaic modules, this custom-made solution allows for better light diffusion and ventilation.
Four tons per hectare of asparagus will be harvested this year, which is almost 80,000 asparagus, with a yield that should reach 9 tons/hectares by 2022. This solution perfectly fits the ‘win-win’ logic at the very heart of our mission to ‘decarbonize the economy’ and support producers with their daily problems, in order to meet the challenge of energy transition,” explains Nicolas Jeuffrain, president of Tenergie, which intends to deploy this concept, entirely designed, built and operated by the company.
To this day, 75% of the solar power plants operated by Tenergie are connected to the agricultural sector (greenhouses, warehouses or renovation of farm roofs), with 100 projects in the south and more than 750 projects in France. With a new investment plan of 2 billion euros [2.4 billion USD] over the next 3 years, Tenergie hopes to go even further in transforming the sector and democratizing the access to renewable energy. This ambition also includes a geographical expansion of the offer to the Grand-Ouest, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions.
For more information:
https://tenergie.fr/