Stories

Carrefour has united with Urbasolar to accelerate the energy transition of its superstores with a first phase of installation of photovoltaic parking canopies on 36 of the brand’s superstore parking areas. The electricity produced is completely self-consumed on site by each store. Carrefour is the first distributer in France to use a self-consumption system on…

Senegal has made the energy sector, and the reduction of carbon footprint, one of the main goals of the Rising Senegal Plan (PSE, Plan Sénégal émergent), a new referential public policy in the country for 2035. Sococim Industries, a subsidiary of the Vicat group, has engaged in the energy transition by choosing to install, in…

Interview with Alain Legal, mayor of Faux since 2008, community of 610 inhabitants, local council community for the southern Périgord region, in Dordogne. After having visited a solar power plant in 2012 in the Gers region, the elected officials of Faux decided to install a photovoltaic power plant on a site in escheat, which had…

Interview with Roger Meï, mayor of Gardanne since 1977, a town of 20,000 inhabitants and the historic capital of the mining basin of Provence. “I am a mayor who has had a real ecological approach for 40 years. We lived through the closing of the coal mines and the ambition of Gardanne is to be…

Interview with Cédric Fargier, a grower in Châteaurenard (13) Specializing in growing winter salads cultivated under plastic polytunnels, Cédric Fargier has chosen to replace his tunnels with an efficient and sustainable means of production: a solar-powered greenhouse. “Market gardening runs in my family, starting with my grandfather. My father carried on and then it was…

In January 2018, BNP Paribas Reim France acquired, through an off-plan purchase (VEFA) with Nexity, a logistics platform at the heart of the Mitra urban development zone, for its real estate investment company (SCPI) Accimmo Pierre. With a total area of 58,000 m², the Mitra Campus is the new regional logistics hub of Auchan, managing…

Interview with Stephanie Facon-Retaux, a grower in Berre l’Etang (French Department 13), just outside Marseilles Stephanie Facon-Retaux and her husband run a market garden and horticulture business in the town of Berre l’Etang, near Marseilles. They grow flowers and fruit both outside and in their greenhouses. “We started this solar-powered greenhouse project with Urbasolar so…

Interview with Philippe Casier, Energy and Sustainable Development Engineer – Carcassonne Hospital Center. 25,000 m² of parking canopies equipped with photovoltaic panels for a capacity of 4 MWp, a project co-financed by Urbasolar and the SYADEN (Aude region energy and digital association). For this high environmental quality (HEQ) and very high energy performance hospital commissioned…

Interview with Daniel Renaud, mayor of Nizas since 2013, town of 650 inhabitants, Hérault Méditerranée greater metropolitan area. A quarry at the end of operations, a political will to develop renewable energy in the region, in particular photovoltaic energy, and the search for new resources are all at the origin of the Arnet plateau power…

Interview with Daniel Boyer, mayor of Aigaliers since 2001, village of 500 inhabitants near Uzès in the Gard region. Inaugurated at the end of May, 2016, this next generation ground-mounted solar power plant was born of the shared engagement, starting in 2009, of Daniel Boyer, his municipal council, and the village’s population. “We said to…

Interview with Marie-Aline Edo, mayor since 2004 of La-Tour-Sur-Orb, a town of 1,500 inhabitants in the western part of the Hérault region, near Bédarieux. Marie-Aline Edo, along with her town council, responded in favor of a proposal to create a renewable energy production site in her community: “Even the hunters and the hiking association were…

Poste Immo, a subsidiary of the La Poste Group, is the real estate holding company and operator of the group. Its creation in 2004 responded to 3 major objectives : Modernize the group’s real estate. Optimize the occupation of surfaces, the costs, and the productivity of real estate activity at the heart of the La…

In the middle of a rose farm, a solar power plant was created at Red Land Roses in Riuru, Kenya. “The installation of this photovoltaic self-consumption system following a hybrid process that interfaces with the grid and diesel generators has allowed us to save 30% on our electricity bill. But, that isn’t the only benefit.…

This project was born of the desire of the town of Périgueux, which owns the land, with the support of La Chapelle-Gonaguet municipality and the Greater Périgueux region, to make better use of the site of this rehabilitated former waste dump by constructing a solar power plant. The goal was to contribute to the national…

Interview with François Boussard, President of the Sud Sarthe Local Authorities Group (72) Located on a former military munitions depot (ETAMAT in Aubigné-Racan) which closed in 1999, the solar energy plant project is part of the rehabilitation of the site which had already undergone explosives decontamination, dismantling of the military installations and ground decontamination. “The…

Interview with Alain Delsol, mayor of Lavernose-Lacasse, town of 3,000 inhabitants along the Garonne River, south of Toulouse. For his third term, Alain Delsol undertook, along with his municipal council, a project to develop former gravel quarries that had been exploited for thirty years. Property of the town, these spaces have today been converted into…

Interview with Marie-Laure Piqué, Engineering and Christophe Chaussende, Purchasing Director / Logistics – material resource center – Nîmes university hospital To optimize resources, the hospital made the decision to invest in renewable energy and thus participate in the energy transition without engaging investments. Urbasolar was the one to invest, design, install, and operate the 17,000 m2…

The Ravate Group, through its subsidiary Ravate Professionnel, a leader in the distribution of construction materials around the Indian Ocean, and Urbasolar have come together to create a joint-venture operating the photovoltaic market in La Réunion under the brand Urbasolar Océan Indien. Ravate Prodessionnel launched the equipping of its stores with photovoltaic roofing starting in…

Testimony from Ms. Lamarche, raspberry farmer in Arnac Pompadour (19) “I am thrilled to have this tool available which is much better adapted to my production. The photovoltaic greenhouse will allow me to cultivate in ideal conditions, with greater comfort, and optimized output.” Located in the village of Arnac-Pompadour (Corrèze region), the family farm of…

Interview with Pascal Legendre, president of the Mézinais local council community in the Lot et Garonne region. At the start of the project, the community purchased a former industrial waste site to develop an economic project and photovoltaic energy was the opportunity they wanted to take advantage of. The 20 hectare parcel of land that…

18 years after the tragic explosion at the AZF site, the former industrial brownfield is being reborn through an exemplary site reconversion project into a source of renewable energy production. “This initiative is a manifestation of the Toulouse metropolitan area’s engagement in favor of renewable energies and is fully part of our Climate, Air, and…

Interview with Akhobi Sitou, Managing Director of SÉOLIS Group (79) The SÉOLIS Group’s core business occupies a specific geographical place in the energy sector, given that this company, with its 175 employees, is a long-established supplier of energy to the Deux-Sèvres department in the west of France. Due to its origins, being created by a…

Interview with Pascal Terrasse, President of the departmental equipment association of Ardèche (SDEA). « At the project’s origin, the goal was to make better use of the land bordering the airfield within the constraints of an aeronautical environment. A serious study of the risks of glare to aerial navigation was carried out before the project…