Dijon Céréales — member of Alliance BFC and TSE: a partnership to meet the challenges of agricultural and energy transitions
This Tuesday, April 23, TSE, a reference in agrivoltaics in France, Dijon Céréales, a member of Alliance BFC, and the SCEA des Tours inaugurated a new agrivoltaics canopy, in Verdonnet in Côte-d'Or (21).
This inauguration concretizes a virtuous agrivoltaics system, allowing the complementarity of agricultural and energy production, wanted by all the parties involved in this project in advance of regulations. The recent decree of 8 April 2024 indeed newly establishes the regulatory framework for agrivoltaics, making it possible to develop local projects with all actors — the agricultural world, project developers and local elected officials — and at the national level to contribute to the energy and agricultural sovereignty of our country.
An agricultural canopy for organic field crops
At the origin of the project, the SCEA des Tours, a farm with 4 partners (Jean-François and Adrien Cortot, Hervé and Pierre Lallemant) who seek to innovate and adapt their business to new environmental and climatic constraints.
Farm crops are affected by climate change. Strong temperature variations, long periods without water, and very rainy or hail episodes impact cereal yields and plant growth.
Designed by TSE, as part of a co-development partnership with Dijon Céréales, a member of Alliance BFC, the agrivoltaic canopy set up on this site is a self-supporting system of photovoltaic panels which, while producing electricity, protects crops from heat and water stress, such as destructive climatic episodes such as hail.
This installation, with a production capacity of 2.4 MWc, was installed on an area of 3 hectares in organic field crops and will contribute to the avoidance of 1,648 tons of CO2 per year, while representing the equivalent in electrical production, of the annual residential consumption of approximately 1,450 people.
The initial results concerning crops planted for the first season are encouraging, with, for sown wheat varieties (Rubisco and Energo) in organic production, an increase of +14% compared to the control plot next to the agrivoltaic power plant.
“This canopy is perfectly in line with the philosophy of our farm, that is to say the construction of a sustainable agricultural system, which meets the challenges of diversifying production and economic performance of the farm while respecting the environment. This is an opportunity to develop a new energy production activity, in connection with the installation of the new generation of our children on the farm,” explains Jean-François Cortot, operator of the SCEA des Tours.
TSE and Dijon Céréales join forces for an ambitious partnership
Beyond the inauguration of this new canopy, Dijon Céréales, a member of Alliance BFC and TSE, is a broader ambition, with the signing of a long-term partnership. The latter perfectly illustrates this common desire to innovate and cooperate to meet the challenges of agricultural and energy transitions. For TSE, working in close collaboration with an agricultural cooperative means validating the agronomic relevance of its products while ensuring a thoughtful deployment of its agrivoltaic solutions in the territories.
” This partnership, which we are very happy to sign today, illustrates our commitment to sustainable agriculture and a successful energy transition. This is an ambitious agreement, with a vision of deploying 700 MW in seven years, which reveals the capacity to anticipate and act by Dijon Céréales and Alliance BFC to shape the future of agriculture and agri-food on its territory. ” says Mathieu Debonnet, president of TSE.
” Verdonnet represents a sustainable and repeatable model, with, I am convinced, with tangible and positive impacts on the agricultural and local economy. The agriculture of the future must emerge from regions, respecting farmers, promoting decarbonization and food and energy sovereignty, while innovating. The installations carried out by TSE with Alliance BFC cooperatives in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté are a concrete example. ” underlines Didier Lenoir, president of Dijon Céréales and Alliance BFC.
” The partnership with TSE, initiated over three years ago, includes an experimental phase with the Alliance BFC R&D team, to assess the performance of crops under the canopy. The second axis consists in developing installations based on TSE technology with the members of our three cooperatives. Our priority is to find solutions to support and develop farmers' incomes in the face of climate hazards. Agrivoltaics offers a real opportunity in this perspective. ” concludes Christophe Richardot, CEO of Dijon Céréales and Alliance BFC.
