Baraize is NOTUS énergie France’s largest solar project to date. The small community in central France is proud of “its” climate project: around 200 local residents have contributed financially to the solar park. The solar power plant of 15.8 megawatt supplies more than 4,000 households with clean energy. Now NOTUS énergie France celebrated the inauguration of the solar park together with the neighborhood.
“Through the participation model, many of our citizens are co-owners of the solar park. We are proud that we are making our contribution to climate protection in this way,” explains Lionnel Perrot, mayor of the site municipality Baraize. Because the solar park is located on a plot of land belonging to the municipality, the lease income also benefits the general public in the village.
In addition to about 100 guests from the neighborhood, Stéphane Sinagoga, Secretary-General of the Indre Prefecture, and several mayors of the surrounding municipalities attended the inauguration ceremony of the solar park.
Heinrich Lieser, Président Notus énergie France, emphasised the high environmental standards in the construction of the solar park. “There is no concrete, the solar panels are on poles made of wood. We have preserved the existing hedges and replanted almost 3,000 trees and shrubs, including around 50 fruit trees of local origin.”
Construction work at Baraize had started in September 2020. Despite the particular challenges posed by corona constraints, NOTUS énergie France completed the plant on more than 20 hectares in just a few months. The solar panels have been feeding energy into the French grid since the end of April 2021. Through the Lendosphere participation platform, around 200 citizens from the surrounding communities have contributed more than 1.2 million euros to the construction of the solar power plant. The total volume of the project was around 12 million euros. Currently, NOTUS énergie France is planning further solar parks in France and is expanding its team of experts there.
About NOTUS energy
NOTUS energy has been initiating, planning, building and operating
climate-friendly wind and solar parks since 2001. With around 260 megawatts of
installed capacity in its own portfolio and a development pipeline of more
than 3,000 megawatts, NOTUS energy is one of the larger independent project
developers and electricity producers in Germany.
From its headquarters in Potsdam, NOTUS energy has established representative
offices in eight European countries as well as in North and South America
since 2007. The NOTUS énergie France team in Paris develops wind and solar
projects together with the French financial partner OMNES Capital. In France,
the projects in planning currently have a total capacity of 700 megawatts.
