The project won the call for tenders launched by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. It was co-built by Sigeif, the municipality of Marcoussis and Engie to meet the challenges of energy transition linked to local production of renewable electricity. With a capacity of 20.3 MWp over an area of 23 hectares, it produces the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of over 10,000 inhabitants, reducing energy dependence in the the Île-de-France region and decarbonising the electricity network.
The installation is located on land that has received backfill from construction work on the LGV Atlantique. It puts the site back into use while preserving biodiversity, in the form of refuge areas and preservation of woodland areas. The local population was fully involved in the development of the solar farm, with the citizen crowdfunding campaign raising nearly 1.4 million euros in less than six weeks from the inhabitants of Marcoussis, those of Essonne and neighbouring departments.
“Engie, the leading developer of energy renewable in France, with an energy mix which is close to 75 percent, is the solar leader in France, with 1.3 GW that we build and operate today” said Catherine MacGregor, CEO of Engie. “The inauguration of the Marcoussis solar farm is a great success which embodies the notion of a territorial project as we conceive it, in perfect collaboration with local partners and elected officials, whom I would like to thank for their trust. The use of crowdfunding has favoured the territorial anchoring of this project and has enabled the inhabitants to become actors of the energy transition”.
Engie’s operations in France utilise all renewable technologies with an installed capacity of 7.9 GW (including 1.3 GW solar, 2.7 GW wind, 3.9 GW hydroelectricity), thereby promoting a balanced energy mix, through complementary sectors that enhance local resources, including solar PV, onshore wind, hydroelectric power and biogas.
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