Q Energy and Partners recently inaugurated a 74.3 MW floating PV factory in France – the largest of its kind in Europe. PV -Magazine Visited the site to investigate the technologies and innovations behind the project.
The Les Ilots Blandin Floating Power Plant, with more than 134,000 panels, extends over the site in Perthes, Haute-Marne. It is located on basins formed by flooded former gravel wells that were closed in 2020, based on the local company Etablissements Blandin.
“Although the site includes 127 hectare, the actual surface that was available for the floating panels was 45.5 hectares,” Vincent Pinchou, project manager at the French floating solar developer Ciel et Terre, said PV Magazine France.
He said the project is stretching 45.49 hectares. With a total capacity of 74.3 MW-72.3 MW floating and 2 MW on the ground, it is mounted as Europe’s largest operational floating PV installation. It consists of six islands, each with capacities between 8 MW and 17 MW.
To get tight deadlines, all stakeholders in the design and construction of the site have adjusted and standardized their processes. Ciel et Terre, for example, supplied 230,000 recyclable polyethylene with high density (HDPE) floats and managed anchor, module and inverter installation on the floating structures. The French factory produced up to 8,000 floats per week, making the simultaneous assembly of three islands possible.
“The shape of the plant also helped us to optimize the design, planning and construction,” said Pinchou. “For example, we maintained a rectangular structure as much as possible, so that we could standardize the strings with 27 modules each. In total, 5,000 strings were assembled in a uniform way.”
In addition to Ciel et Terre, Perpetum supervised the purchasing of inverters and 16 delivery and transformation under stations, and constructed the ground-based power plant next to the floating installations. Solutions30, the main contractor of the consortium, managed cabling, connections and commissioning.
Das Solar supplied 134,541 solar panels and plans to build a gigafactory in France. The company produced the modules in its facility in Quzhou. In the province of Zhejiang in China. Vincent Cao, the marketing manager of the company, said that the project was designed more than two years ago, so it uses 550 WP Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) modules.
The modules were installed at a TILT of 5 degrees on structures mounted on plastic floats. Pinchou said that Ciel et Terre offers two standard tilting, at 5 degrees and 12 degrees. He explained that a steeper angle ensures that panels are more shade, which requires a greater distance and more surface area that was not available on this site. He added that a steeper tilt increases the wind resistance, which increases the need for anchors and floats. He said that choosing a shallow angle achieved an optimal balance between density, stability and efficiency.
For energy producer Q Energy, who developed the plant, floating solar energy represents a future technology, especially for North France, where it could better use the solar potential. Corentin Sivy, development director of Q Energy France, said that one of the most important challenges is to establish economy because floating power plants have no special calls for tendering and have to compete with land -based solar projects in calls for tendering by the French Energy Regulator (CRE).
The project was funded by Q Energy in September 2024 by a fundraising of more than € 50 million ($ 57.9 million) led by Crédit Agricole Transitions & the Everts and BPifrance. Velto Renewables acquired a 50% interest in the first quarter of 2025. The company Spanish renewable energy company bought a portfolio of five projects developed by Q Energy, including three solar energy and two windactiva.
“This collaboration with an established French company has enabled us to set a solid foothold in France,” said Lucas de Haro, CEO of Velto Renewables, said PV Magazine France. “And we are here to stay.”
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to work with us and reuse part of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Popular content
