Orange is opening its first solar farm in Europe with Reservoir Sun

Today, Orange is announcing the signature of a memorandum of agreement with Reservoir Sun, a leading player in self-supply solar electricity systems for companies and local government, to set up a photovoltaic power station in Bercenay-en-Othe (Aube). The station is due to go online in 2025. The project’s first major milestone is the environmental impact analysis. 

To fulfill its environmental commitments, Orange is increasingly turning to renewable sources of energy and wishes to accelerate this transition by making the most of solar energy on its tertiary and technical sites. The Group will therefore deploy its first solar farm in France and in Europe  on the strategic satellite communications site at Bercenay-en-Othe. The farm will cover a surface area of 50,000 m2, or the equivalent of seven football pitches.  With an installed capacity of 5 MW (1MW for self-consumption and 4MW for reinjection), the power station will supply 20% of the site’s energy needs and surplus electricity can be fed back to the grid. This locally generated, low-carbon electricity corresponds to the annual energy consumption of 1,700 homes and will save over 100 tons of CO2 every year.

The first milestone, starting today, is the environmental impact analysis required to carry out the project, in agreement with the DREAL (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing). This study will be carried out over a period of up to 12 months, or four seasons, to determine the potential impact of the project on living species on the site. The study of the natural environment aims to minimize the impact of the facilities and to recreate, if required, species’ habitats.

Michaël Trabbia, interim CEO for Orange Wholesale and International Networks, declared: “We are happy and proud to launch an ambitious local solar farm project at our Bercenay-en-Othe site. This solar farm reflects our additionality approach and is fully in line with our strategy to develop the use of low-carbon energies, in order to contribute to our environmental commitments. This project thus contributes to securing our energy supply while decarbonizing our activities. »

Mathieu Cambet, Managing Director of Reservoir Sun: “Reservoir Sun is very proud to have been chosen by Orange as a trusted partner for its first solar power project on one of its own sites. We hope that this shared project will mark the start of a strong collaboration to take on the challenges of decarbonization and local energy production.”