The Cestas Solar Park is a 300

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after Jame ...

(MW)

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

Cestas Cestas (; oc-gsc, Cestàs) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population Economy Cestas Solar Park was the biggest solar park in Europe when Neoen opened it in December 2015. See also *C ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Built by

Eiffage Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe. History The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing compani ...

and

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation ...

for the developer,

Neoen Neoen is a French producer of exclusively renewable energy headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 2008, it develops, finances, builds and operates solar power plants, wind farms and energy storage solutions. As at 31 December 2021, the c ...

, it opened on December 1, 2015. When it opened on 1 December 2015, Cestas Solar Park was the largest solar photovoltaic power station in Europe . Located in Cestas, to the south of Bordeaux, it spans and produces 300 MWp.

Energy production

When it opened, Cestas was Europe's largest solar park. The power station comprises a million polycristalline silicon modules. The 300 MWp power station has an annual production of 350 GWh, equivalent to the household consumption (excluding heating) of the 240,000 inhabitants of Bordeaux yet represents less than 0.1% of annual electricity production in France. Alone, the power station has increased net solar power production in metropolitan France by 6% compared to 2014 (5,500 GWh). Twenty-five 12 MWp power stations are linked together and hooked up to the RTE

high voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant spe ...

electricity transmission network. Thanks to the east–west panel orientation, production per hectare (of land, not modules) is two to three times greater than a comparable power station with south-facing modules, due to less space required between rows . The park's average

surface power density In physics and engineering, surface power density is power per unit area. Applications * The intensity of electromagnetic radiation can be expressed in W/m2. An example of such a quantity is the solar constant. * Wind turbines are often compared ...

is approximately 15 W per square metre, compared to 3–8 W recorded elsewhere in metropolitan France ( Losse, la Colle des Mées, Toul-Rosières, etc.).

Ownership

owns the land and is the project manager. The company has a 40% share in the power station, with the remaining 60% owned by other shareholders. Neoen entrusted a consortium led by Clemessy (branch of French group

) with the design, construction and maintenance of the power station in partnership with

and the French branch of Krinner.

Operator

Neoen has entrusted Clemessy with the operation and maintenance of the solar plant.

History

Construction began in November 2014 and the power station was commissioned in October 2015. The park was officially opened on 1 December 2015 . The power station is directly linked to the electricity transmission network. Supply to French electricity provider EDF was set at €105 per MWh for a period of 20 years – cheaper than the production of the planned European Pressurized nuclear Reactors (EPR) . The solar panels at Cestas, which represent 45% of the overall cost of the project, were supplied by the world's top three manufacturers (

Yingli Solar Yingli (), formally Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited () - . Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, known as "Yingli Solar," is a solar panel manufacturer. Yingli Green Energy's manufacturing covers the photovoltaic value chain ...

Trina Solar Trina Solar Co., Ltd. (SSE: 688599, ), founded in 1997, manufactures, sells and does research and development on PV products, EPC and O&M. It also develops and sells smart micro-grid and multi-energy complementary systems and energy cloud-platf ...

and

Canadian Solar Canadian Solar Inc. is a publicly traded company that manufactures solar PV modules and runs large scale solar projects. History Founded in 2001 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada by Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) has subsidiaries in over 24 ...

), at the time the only companies able to supply the required volume and homogeneity. Neoen turned to French companies for the electrical installation: Clemessy, a branch of Eiffage, oversaw the project,

Nexans Nexans S.A. is a global company in the cable and optical fiber industry headquartered in Paris, France. The group is active in four main business areas: buildings and territories (construction, local infrastructure, smart cities / grids, e-mo ...

supplied the 4000 km of cable and Schneider Electric the high voltage unit, the transformers and inverters. A just-in-time method was devised for construction, with tractor-towed platforms to transport panels. The project delivered significant numbers of construction jobs -up to 250 workers at peak activity.

Investment and selling price

A total of 360 million euros was invested in the project. The variable supply of electricity is sold to EDF at €104.5 per MWh. In comparison, the price announced for the non-variable supply from the planned

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is a two-unit, 3,200 MWe EPR nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England. The site was one of eight announced by the British government in 2010, and in November 2012 a nuclear site ...

is €109 (£92.50) per MWh at 2012 prices.

References

Photovoltaic power stations in France Buildings and structures in Gironde {{France-struct-stub