2023-06-09 06:27:00
The first agrivoltaic plot in Wallonia was inaugurated on 1 June. This concept combining agriculture and photovoltaic electricity production is well established among our neighbours. It has many advantages for farmers but still raises fears among us. For what ? How does this system work? It is on these questions that this Friday’s Planète Avenir looks.
For some, it is a shelter. For others, it’s extra income. Shedding light on a sector that brings hope, but also fears…
The sheep discover their new meadow: a pasture of almost 14 hectares on which solar panels are installed. A brand new facility visited hand in hand by Grégory and Sandrine, breeders in Chimay. “We will have the same thing at home”they say.
They too intend to have their sheep coexist with photovoltaic production. Panels that produce electricity, protect animals in bad weather and above all preserve the quality of the grass in summer. “You have to know that in case of drought, the grass will start to die on its feet. It will start to break. The animals will have a much lower nutritional value with a kind of fodder like that. While we see although under the panels the grass is green and still very much alive”notes Sandrine.
The panels have a minimum height of one meter. They are screwed into the ground without concrete, which allows them to be dismantled without damaging the field. In exchange for making their land available, Grégory and Sandrine will receive rent of around 2,000 euros per hectare and per year. A more than welcome extra income today. “Today, I know how much I’m going to sell my lamb. Tomorrow, if it happens, they won’t give me anything. On the other hand, we have to continue to live. To live and to pay our commitments… So, we optimize a tool while financially securing our agricultural installation”continues the breeder.
This agrivoltaic field is the very first in Wallonia. The electricity produced here is redistributed on the network, it supplies around 3,000 households. A pride for the promoter of the project, Alex Houtart. “You know like me that we have objectives in Wallonia. And to achieve these objectives, it would be necessary to install approximately 4 times a year what we install today in photovoltaic, so that we can, from here 2030, achieve these goals”he explains.
Energy and climate transition, animal well-being… Agrivoltaism also responds to another challenge that concerns breeders: the return of the wolf to Belgium. “We have to put up security fences, anyway, to protect the photovoltaic field. And that is also obviously useful for sheep farmers to protect them once morest wolves… Which is more and more mandatory now in Wallonia , then it’s expensive so we offer the fences”says Alex Houtart.
In neighboring countries, solar panels mainly protect fruit trees from hail or drought. In our country, most agrivoltaic projects intend to set up on meadows where sheep or cattle graze. “Here, it suits very well in our latitudes. And in addition, there is a second advantage: it is that the sheep sector is in difficulty at the moment, and therefore a whole series of farmers who wanted to make sheep and who were not able to do so financially find the possibility of reintroducing sheep thanks to agrivoltaism”continues the promoter of the project.
The development of agrivoltaism does not only make people happy. According to the Walloon Federation of Agriculture, many projects are in fact power stations accompanied by a small rather cosmetic agricultural activity. For Lucie Darms, solar production on fields also drives up the price of agricultural land. “By putting photovoltaic panels on agricultural land, the price per hectare will increase considerably while this price is already climbing everywhere by grabbing, also for residential projects”she complains.
The Walloon Region discourages the installation of photovoltaic panels on agricultural land. In a circular, the Minister of the Economy ensures that the region has square kilometers of industrial wasteland or roofs that can easily accommodate solar electricity production.
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