Baptiste Morin (on site), edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez 06:21, October 03, 2022
In ten years, the twenty-three wind turbines of the La Bretelle and Échalot wind farms have boosted the economy of several communes in Burgundy.
If the inhabitants were initially skeptical, they have now accepted wind turbines as a decorative element with significant economic benefits.
REPORTAGE
The wind farms of La Bretelle and Échalot, in Burgundy, are celebrating their tenth anniversary.
Contested at the time of the project, they have now blended into the decor.
Today, acceptability rhymes with habit and sharing economic benefits.
Because if the church of Étalante, 160 inhabitants, was able to get a makeover, it is thanks to the wind turbines.
Yvonne, 90, lives opposite the bell tower of the building and she is very happy with it.
"All the gutters have been done, the whole roof too, the sanitation has also been done, she explains. She is beautiful!"
In 2012, 23 wind turbines were built on the heights, straddling three municipalities.
Étalante has ten, Échalot eight and Poiseul-la-Grange five.
The wind turbines produce 80,000 MWh per year, the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 37,000 people, or nearly a quarter of the population of the city of Dijon.
© Baptiste Morin / Europe 1
Numerous appeals against the project
In the nearby village of Échalot, Albert remembers the tensions aroused by the project at the time.
"Ah, there were meetings in the village hall quite tense!", Says this 70-year-old man, born in the village.
No less than four appeals were filed at the time to try to block the project.
Eventually, wind turbines came into being.
As for knowing how the discussions ended in the communes, "not with gunfire anyway", reassures Albert, laughing, "but there is one who ended up leaving the village".
Éric Dudouet, the mayor of Étalante, arrived at the responsibilities during the vote of the project at the City Council.
Ten years after the commissioning of the 23 masts 100 meters high, he wants to be a philosopher.
"The French are resistant to new things. And there, it's the same. At the start, some of the inhabitants were not for it. And finally, they got used to it. Me, when I come home from work and I see them shooting , I tell myself that it produces."
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A financial windfall for municipalities
Today, the wind turbines bring the municipality 70,000 euros in annual income, which has made it possible to lower taxes by 20%.
The nine owners who have welcomed a wind turbine into their homes also receive rent.
Pierre has three in one of his fields, but he doesn't dare speak of an agent.
"It's a rental yes ... a kind of compensation", he eludes.
Compensation of around 4,000 euros per wind turbine per year, enough to convert to renewable energies.
The municipality of Étalante does not intend to stop there.
She now wants to get into agrivoltaics.
Studies will begin in November for the construction of twenty hectares of solar panels above a sheep farm.