LASSICOURT solar farm
- Upgrading a degraded site
- Eco-grazing
- Crowdfunding
The project
Commissioned in June 2019, the Lassicourt photovoltaic solar farm is located in the Aube department, on a former airfield site at Brienne-le-Château, formerly used for parking NATO aircraft.
The site’s military past has been preserved, with the concrete daisies, firing range and pontoon remaining. The site benefits from favourable sunlight, with an estimated solar potential of 1,200 kWh/m2 in the horizontal plane.
The farm is equipped with solar trackers, which allow the photovoltaic panels to follow the path of the sun throughout the day.
Principal stakeholders
The shareholders of Lassicourt Energies, which owns the Lassicourt solar farm, are green energy operator VALOREM (65%) and SEM ÉNERGIE. The company comprises the Department of Aube, the City of Troyes, the Agglomeration of Troyes, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignation and the Caisse d’Épargne Grand Est Europe, and has acquired an equity interest in Lassicourt Energies to the tune of 17%. SEM YONNE ÉNERGIE has invested in the form of bonds.
1 A solar farm partially funded by citizens and local authorities
A pioneer in crowdlending, VALOREM invited citizens to lend funds for the construction of the Lassicourt Énergies photovoltaic farm. Residents of the Aube department and neighboring areas were offered an enhanced interest rate. The initial fundraising target of €700,000 was greatly exceeded, reaching €1,016,000.
The solar farm has been awarded the ‘Participatory financing for green growth’ label, administered by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition.
2 Employment reintegration through social inclusion clauses
LASSICOURT Energies, the Aube Department, and the Entr’aide Association have signed a Partnership Agreement to incorporate social inclusion clauses into construction contracts.
Through this agreement, LASSICOURT Energies has committed to allocating 7% of total working hours to individuals facing employment challenges, including RSA and social benefits recipients, long-term job seekers, young people under 26, and individuals recognized as Workers with Disabilities.
Photos of the farm
The 39,060 panels in the LASSICOURT ENERGIES farm will produce approximately 22,000 MWh of electricity per year, or the annual consumption of 7,800 four-person households (excluding heating and electric hot water)*. *Average of ADEME, CRE, Enertech, INSEE, CEREN, MEEDD sources
