After nearly a year of discussions, the decree governing agrivoltaics was published last April. This text defines in particular the area to be covered by agricultural holdings with solar panels, as well as the authorized yield loss limits. Mathieu Debonnet, founder and president of TSE, a recognized expert in agrivoltaics, analyzes these new rules. He explains how they aim to avoid “alibis” projects and explains why TSE has chosen to respect coverage thresholds lower than those authorized by law, for its solar panels.
Are you generally satisfied with the agrivoltaics decree ? How did the actors in the sector communicate with the public authorities ?
This decree sets a framework that we have been waiting for for almost a year. It is the result of long-term work carried out by the administration, in collaboration with unions, including France Agrivoltaisme, project developers and professional agricultural organizations. The challenge was to define rules that were protective for agriculture and effective for project developers. Concretely, the starting point was the ambition set out by the law: that of reconciling electricity production and agricultural production, while maintaining this priority given to food production. The decree now translates this ambition into an evaluation grid so that only virtuous projects are authorized, projects that respect agriculture and farmers.. And that's how we think of agrivoltaics at TSE !
All topics were discussed, from the definition of the services provided to the agricultural plot, through the maintenance of yields, to the obligation to dismantle at the end of exploitation. For each of these themes, major safeguards have been put in place, resulting in a complete and coherent set.
Will the decree really eliminate all alibi projects ?
Finally, the decree gives the training services very clear indications for evaluating projects and selecting only those that really provide a service to agriculture. This text includes numerous requirements on facility design and makes the preservation of yields, an essential objective. The decree was then supplemented by an order, signed on 5 July last, which further specifies the procedures for monitoring and controlling installations, especially in livestock farming.
The new framework is complete and it will certainly take some time for everyone to take ownership of these tools and for them to be deployed peacefully. For this, an implementation guide is in preparation. At the same time, discussions are being organized at the local level, with the Chambers of Agriculture and State services, to ensure that the requirements of the decree are fully understood and rigorously applied.
With our teams present locally, in the heart of territories, we contribute to relaying these requirements to promote their deployment.
A national framework has been given, but what will be the role of local elected officials on these projects ?
Compliance with the criteria of the decree is not sufficient to obtain urban planning permission. Projects must also obtain an opinion from the departmental commissions for the preservation of natural, agricultural and forest areas (CDPENAF). Representatives of the Chambers of Agriculture sit there in particular. By combining the numerical criteria of the decree and the qualitative assessment of the CDPENAFs, we obtain a sufficiently robust system to block projects that would not give priority to agriculture and would therefore risk destabilizing the territory's agricultural economy. To go further in this approach, it is now necessary to strengthen the formalism of the opinions of the CDPENAF and to have a systematic motivation for these opinions. This increased transparency would be an additional bulwark against alibi projects.
Within the framework of the decree, what are the main elements that an agrivoltaic project must respect ?
There are 4 main elements. First of all, the project must respect a maximum coverage rate of 40% and the loss of usable area should not exceed 10%. Next, the average yield per hectare observed on the plot must be at least equal to 90% of the average yield per hectare in the control zone or the local reference system. The ministerial decree specifies that the calculation will be made on the basis of averages over 5 years, excluding the highest value and the lowest value. Finally, the average operating income, excluding income from the agrivoltaic installation, must not be less than the average income before the project was implemented.
Does the coverage rate of up to 40% also apply to grasslands ?
The maximum coverage rate applies to all agrivoltaic projects, whether in cultivation or in livestock. The objective of maintaining returns of 90% is also valid for both activities. The only difference concerns the control zone, which is not mandatory in breeding.
Without this control zone, how do you calculate the minimum livestock yield objectives ?
The decree of July 5, 2024 indicates that for ruminant farming, the yield objectives will be verified through two indicators: the production of fodder biomass and the loading rate. These indicators will be evaluated in comparison with a local reference system.
How will the criteria, set by the decree, be checked ?
First of all, there will be a prior check before the installation is put into operation. Then, a follow-up check will be put in place during the 6th year of operation, then every 3 or 5 years to verify these elements. In addition, information must be sent annually to ADEME.
Do the projects already deployed by TSE comply with this new decree published in April ?
Yes, we anticipated several of these elements. Since 2022, we have been setting up the largest agrivoltaic demonstrator in the world, with numerous pilot sites, spread across the country. These sites follow a scientific test protocol co-constructed and conducted with our teams of agricultural experts in plant and animal biology and our scientific and agricultural partners. Over a period of between 3 and 9 years, these agronomic trials will make it possible to demonstrate the relevance and effectiveness of this concept and to quantify the expected beneficial effects on different farms and different crops, yield and quality, and to adjust varieties, crop management and rotations over the course of the experiment. This allows us to best support farmers in their agrivoltaics project.
Are there points in the decree on which you go further ?
We go further on some points of the decree. Even if it allows a coverage rate of up to 40%, we have chosen to favor a coverage rate of around 30% on all our projects for agronomic reasons. Our agricultural engineers simulated the shade on meadows and crops at various density levels and a coverage rate of 30% seems optimal to us, in the current state of knowledge.
In addition, the decree authorizes the installation of fixed ground power plants on fallow land for more than 10 years. However, our agrivoltaic solutions on trackers generate rotating shade that contributes to the maintenance of biodiversity on the plot and protects fallow land, which is more strongly affected by climatic hazards. Therefore, we prefer a tracker solution rather than a fixed structure, including on agricultural land that has been unused for more than 10 years.
So, beyond fallow land, do you prefer tracker systems ?
Yes for all our projects. This system of rotating panels provides partial and rotating shade throughout the plot, throughout the day, unlike fixed solutions. The agronomic benefits are known: a drop in temperatures on the plot and protection against excessive light in summer, a limitation ofevapo-perspiration, of water stress And water savings, as well as a decrease in the risk of spring frost. For breeding, shading also improves the thermal comfort of animals.
Detractors of agrivoltaics fear speculation on agricultural land, how can we fight against this phenomenon ?
In addition to agronomic services, agrivoltaics is also a tool for securing farm economic models through the payment of an annual compensation divided between the landowner and the farmer. Our rent levels are set to ensure the viability of the project and to help farmers maintain their farms. We refuse to play the rent escalation game because this would be at the expense of the quality of our solutions, and therefore of our ability to develop robust projects, compatible with the requirements of the decree, and virtuous for agriculture.
What about sharing added value with farmers ?
We have also set up a variable remuneration component (with a guaranteed minimum) for farmers. It is expressed as a percentage of the project company's turnover and allows the operator to be directly associated with the additional income generated by a possible outperformance of the installation, which could be explained by better sunshine or higher market prices, for example. The result obtained is thus equivalent to that of opening project capital to operators, without the associated administrative management complexity and excluding the risk of capital loss.
Will we have to think about projects that open up shareholding to cooperatives or local authorities in order to distribute added value over a territory ?
For TSE, working with cooperatives is a fundamental area of development because they remain the main agricultural player in a territory. This allows us to validate the relevance of our solutions and to have a thoughtful deployment of agrivoltaic solutions on the territory. It is also a response to the challenge of sharing value and generating economic benefits throughout the territory where they are located, because the co-development of projects then benefits all members of the cooperative. We signed our first partnership with Dijon Céréales during the inauguration of the Verdonnet agricultural canopy in April 2024, and a second partnership with Noriap on April 29, 2024. Other partnerships are in progress.
The decree indicates that the chambers must produce “framework documents”, in concrete terms, what is the objective and how will you work with them ?
The law provides that only agrivoltaic projects can be developed on agricultural land, with the exception of land deemed uncultivated or unused for more than 10 years, which will still be able to accommodate ground-based photovoltaic projects without coactivity. The plots must be identified in a framework document, which the Chambers of Agriculture are responsible for developing within 9 months. The Prefects will organize various consultations before finalizing the framework documents. In the first half of 2025, a map will identify agricultural land likely to host these ground-based photovoltaic projects. We will then have a fully finalized framework with on the one hand the standard, namely agrivoltaics, and on the other hand the exception, namely photovoltaic on the ground on targeted plots.
Is agricultural land really necessary to develop solar energy production ?
At the end of March 2024, we had 21.1 GW of solar farms installed. We therefore have about 80GW left to install by 2035 to reach the 100 GW target announced in the French energy-climate strategy.
By way of comparison, industrial wastelands represent approximately 10GW in potential that can be really mobilized.
The deployment of agrivoltaic solutions on agricultural land is therefore necessary to support the dynamics of solar energy in France, in addition to deployments on artificial spaces and roofs. Recall that less than 0.5% of the French SAU covered by agrivoltaic solutions would suffice to reach the requested 100 GW objective.
