• The Horizéo project, a renewable energy platform led by Engie, Neoen and RTE, includes in particular the clearing of 1,000 hectares of forest in Gironde for the installation of a solar park.

  • The National Commission for Public Debate has been mandated by the State to organize discussions on this major project.

  • It presented its report to the press on Wednesday, and the project leader will have to propose an amended version in three months.

It is one of the largest solar park projects in Europe today.

A renewable energy platform project carried out by Engie, Neoen and RTE in Saucats in Gironde, notably includes the installation of a solar park on 1,000 hectares of forest to be cleared.

From September 2021 to January 2022, the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), seized by the State, organized discussions on the subject with residents and local actors.

The mission of the National Commission for Public Debate is to produce “a photograph of what the public thinks”, wishes to specify Chantal Jouanno, its president.

“We must put all the decision-making criteria on the table,” adds Jacques Archimbaud, president of the special commission for public debate on the Horizéo project.

About sixty initiatives were organized by the CNDP to meet and discuss with the public and about 3,000 people took part.

Several tens of thousands of people were informed via platforms, videos and social networks mobilized for the occasion.

The project leader is qualified as "in good faith" and has responded to the various requests from the commission.

Territorial equity in question

It emerges from this debate that it is not the principle of photovoltaics that raises opposition but its location.

“We all feel that we need a lot of photovoltaics, and renewable energies in the broad sense, we will feel it even more in the months and years to come in view of the news, but the question is with what territorial social equity?

“, reports Jacques Archimbaud, insisting on the feeling of the public that the effort must be shared.

State and local authorities are summoned by the public to quickly discuss the distribution of efforts on renewable energies.

In addition to its location, it is the size of the project, considered industrial for the peri-urban town of Saucats, which worries the participants.

It appears that the public has the feeling that allocations are made piecemeal according to land opportunities, without an overall energy policy strategy, even though the objectives in terms of renewable energies are ambitious and will necessarily require taking up space ( natural, agricultural etc.)

Change our consumption?

“Previously, the question of sobriety was not very popular with the general public and this emerged in this debate, observes Chantal Jouanno.

We are in the process of understanding that if we want to make the energy transition, we will first have to think about sobriety before thinking about energy production”.

For the first time, underlines the president of the CNDP, a data center has been put into public debate and this has raised questions related to responsible digital technology.

And it is also described as the "weak link in the project", summarizes Jacques Archimbaud, since it is the only element of the project that cannot be dismantled.

Recommendations to take seriously

In particular, the CNDP recommends that the contracting authority open an information site on the subject, involve the public and local actors in monitoring the studies and organize public meetings.

It enjoins it to carry out additional studies on the risks of fire, flooding, biodiversity, etc.

But also, to communicate more on the concrete deployment of the compensations and on the possible repercussions for the Saucatais.

It should be noted that the public would be reassured by the entry into the capital and/or the governance of the project by a public player.

The project leader has three months to say what he retains from this public debate and what he chooses to modify.

"In 58% of cases, the projects are modified after a public debate", points out Chantal Jouanno.

The CNDP ensures that its response is complete and reasoned, without commenting on the substance.

Guarantors will be appointed by the commission to monitor the progress of the project.

Environmental studies and rigorous authorization requests from the State will follow until the public inquiry.

"From experience, when you do not listen to the major lessons of a public debate, there is little chance that it will go to the end", warns Chantal Jouanno.

Examples like Notre-Dame-des-Landes and EuropaCity are there to testify to this.

Bordeaux

Horizeo project in New Aquitaine: "The main questions relate to the size of the infrastructure"

Planet

Gironde: One billion euros of investment, 1,000 hectares of forest shaved… The sprawling Horizeo solar farm project will be debated

  • Aquitaine

  • Energetic transition

  • Biodiversity

  • Photovoltaic

  • Solar

  • Forest

  • 0 comment

  • 0 share

    • Share on Messenger

    • Share on Facebook

    • Share on Twitter

    • Share on Flipboard

    • Share on Pinterest

    • Share on Linkedin

    • Send by Mail

  • To safeguard

  • A fault ?

  • To print