A sprawling project, the ramifications of which lead to economic, energy and environmental issues. Opponents of all stripes, starting with environmentalists. But in the end, “only one question that must be asked” sums up Jacques Archimbaud, president of the special commission for public debate (CPDP) tasked with the Horizeo project: “Should we raze a forest of 1,000 hectares, to provide low cost of renewable electricity to manufacturers? “
The National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) was asked by the State to frame the public debate on Horizeo, which would become if it sees the light of the day the largest solar park in Europe in the town of Saucats (Gironde), in the middle of the forest of the Landes of Gascony. This is the staggering amount of investment – one billion euros – in this private project led by Engie (the world’s leading private producer of electricity), Neoen (French private producer of renewable energies) and RTE (Réseau and Electricity Transmission) which triggered the referral to the CNDP. At the opening time, this Thursday in Bordeaux, of this public debate which will last four months, 20 minutes summarizes this project in five essential points to know.
Horizeo, what is it?
It is a multi-dimensional project. The main one concerns a huge photovoltaic farm which would produce 1 GW, which would make it the largest solar farm in Europe, much larger than the current largest photovoltaic park in France, located right next to Cestas, and which produces 350 MW. Horizeo would represent in installed power the equivalent of a section of a nuclear power plant, “but taking into account the intermittence of solar energy, it is actually five to six times less in effective power” estimates Jacques Archimbaud. The objective of the project would be to supply, mainly, industrialists in the region, from 2026.
Fueled in part by this solar power plant, the project also includes a data center (or data center), a small hydrogen power plant, an energy storage system, and on 25 ha of agrivoltaism, which would allow market gardening. under a greenhouse. The total cost of the investment amounts to one billion euros, of which 650 million is for the solar power plant alone. On the surface, this photovoltaic platform would occupy a sort of triangle, about 7 km long and 4 km wide.
Why such a large project?
This project, if it were to be realized, would make it possible to achieve a giant leap to achieve the objective of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the leading photovoltaic region in France, of more than 8 GW of solar energy in its territory by 2030, against around 2 GW at present. “But to achieve this objective, do we need large structures of this type, or multiply small projects? », Points out Jacques Archimbaud. Another problem: the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is also committed to “fighting against the artificialization of land” and “strengthening the forest and wetlands”, while 40,500 hectares of natural, agricultural and forest surfaces have been artificialized in the region. region between 2006 and 2015.
Why the Saucats site in Gironde?
The choice of this site was obviously not made at random. “This forest has several assets,” notes Jacques Archimbaud. First, it offers an area of 2,000 hectares in one piece, which is quite rare, the photovoltaic project occupying 1,000 hectares in this part. Then there is a sole private owner – which facilitates discussions – who would lease the land for 30 years. And it benefits from the proximity of an RTE substation which would avoid pulling cables over too long a distance. Finally, it is an enclosed forest used only for hunting with hounds or long distance shooting, and which is prohibited for walking. Finally, Saucats covers a fairly large territory of nearly 9,000 ha, including more than 7,000 ha of forest.
But the destruction of 1,000 hectares of Landes pine “poses a problem for several reasons, concerning carbon storage and biodiversity” raises the chairman of the special committee at the same time. “There is also the risk of fire, knowing that a data center or a battery can burn, and the risk of flooding. It will therefore be necessary to evaluate the preventive measures that will be taken. “The law obliging to compensate when clearing the forest, the promoters of the project have undertaken to replant” at least 2,000 hectares of forest “near” the wood processing factories in the Landes forest “, assures the spokesperson for Horizeo Mathieu Le Grelle.
Who are the opponents of the project?
This is one of the peculiarities of this project: it federates against it “a rather vast and rather counter-intuitive coalition” remarks Jacques Archimbaud. Among elected officials, it goes from environmentalists, starting with the mayor of Bordeaux (EELV) Pierre Hurmic, to the National Rally through the Mouvement de la Ruralité. Environmental associations such as Sepanso are also upbeat. “The forest area concerned, seriously affected by the storm of 1999, had been restored thanks to state subsidies”, recalls Sepanso.
That’s not all. “Foresters are worried about the economic impacts, even if the wood from this forest is hardly used for construction, but rather for pallets, paper or fuel, notes Jacques Archimbaud. There are also the pro-nuclear, who think that this project is useless, while farmers and hunters are tired of seeing natural space wasted for equipment and urbanization ”.
To top it off, the construction of photovoltaic panels being done in China, “the impacts on the territory concerning employment will be very low” warns the president of the CPDP. “Could this project not be more promising for the French industrial sector and more job-creating? »Asks Jacques Archimbaud. Another question that should be debated.
Are there any supporters of the project?
Horizeo of course does not only have detractors. The municipal council of Saucats voted an agreement in principle in favor of the project, even if the mayor Bruno Clément has reservations concerning the risk of fire and flood. In economic circles, we are more pleased to see the arrival of “a huge project entirely financed by the private sector, and which will be carried out elsewhere if it does not happen in New Aquitaine”, notes the president of the Bordeaux Gironde CCI Patrick Seguin. “The usefulness is obvious both for the supply of green energy, and for the creation of a data center that we need,” he continues. The really important question concerns the disappearance of these 1,000 hectares of forest, but this only represents 0.03% of the forest area of our region… ”
The CPDP recalls that its mission is “to inform and ensure that any citizen can give an opinion” and that it does not speak out in favor or against the project. The first public debate takes place this Thursday at 6.30 p.m. at the Bordeaux convention center. All appointments can be found on the website of the CPDP.