Press Release: With the results of the CRE innovation tender, Sun’Agri, a pioneer in the field of agrivoltaics, confirms its position as market leader

“By supporting dynamic agrivoltaics, the government is taking a strong stance in favour of technologies that combine the adaptation of agriculture to climate change and the ecological transition. This marks an important step for Sun’Agri, and we look forward to supporting the successful projects of our partner farmers. Our work over the past 10 years is bearing fruit, and we are seeing very strong growth in farmers’ demand to protect and improve their crops, not least because climate change has recently intensified to an alarming degree. With these projects, France will become the world’s largest hub for positive agrivoltaics, which puts the technology at the service of agriculture, protecting it, improving it and making it more resilient.” Antoine Nogier, founder of Sun’Agri.

Elisabeth Borne, the French Minister of the Ecological Transition, has just announced the results of the second round of the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (CRE) call for tenders for the construction and operation of innovative solar power plants. Sun’Agri, a pioneer in dynamic agrivoltaics, was the big winner of this call for tenders, accounting for more than 75% of the total capacity selected in category 2, which included agrivoltaic systems as well as projects for buildings, car park shading and agricultural hangars. 38 hectares of vineyards, orchards and vegetable farms, all located in the south of France, will produce 33 MWp of renewable energy, based on the solution for adapting agriculture to climate change that Sun’Agri has been developing for the past 11 years.

The French agrivoltaics sector has reached a new stage in its development. Launched in France by Sun’Agri about 10 years ago, this ground-breaking technology aims to improve agricultural performance while providing other benefits, such as protecting crops against weather hazards and reducing water consumption. An agricultural tool through and through, dynamic agrivoltaics also allows for the production of solar energy without sacrificing the land dedicated to farming. Based on the outcome of the CRE call for tenders, 17 to 19 agrivoltaic projects will be developed, 15 of which will use Sun’Agri’s dynamic agrivoltaic technology.

The results of this CRE call for tenders represent a major boost for Sun’Agri, by multiplying the number of projects in operation over the next two years in the Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions, all of which are already hard hit by climate change. At the same time, the company will double the number of experimental systems in order to accelerate the artificial intelligence process it launched in 2019. The construction of these new facilities supports the ambition of Sun’Agri and its partners to accelerate the deployment of agrivoltaics in order to meet the needs of agriculture and to facilitate the financing of innovative and resilient projects in the face of the climate emergency.