ENGIE and NEOEN, both committed to energy transition in the regions and leaders in the renewable energy sector, are joining forces to develop HORIZEO, a largescale renewable energy production project based on a new-concept low-carbon energy platform in Saucats, in the Gironde.
The project is led by ENGIE, NEOEN, the electrical grid manager RTE, and Saucats town hall. In December last year, all the actors referred the project to the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), which decided to organize a public consultation to allow the whole area to take part in developing HORIZEO.
The project aims to develop a new model of renewable energy production, with both technical and economic innovation and respect for the environment at the heart of its development. It consists of:
- a 1 GW photovoltaic farm, producing electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of more than
600,000 people,
- combined with complementary technological building blocks. These include local production and
consumption of renewable energy using
- batteries for electricity storage,
- a green hydrogen production unit targeting individual and collective regional mobility in
particular, - a data center,
- and an area combining farming and photovoltaic electricity production.
HORIZEO is a project on an unprecedented scale that contributes to achieving the energy transition goals set by France. In the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the aim is to reach 8.5 GW of photovoltaic energy production by 2030, compared with the current 2 GW. This project alone would represent more than 15% of this regional target. These highly ambitious goals constitute real challenges that ENGIE and NEOEN are now ready to take up, alongside territorial players.
The energy produced by the photovoltaic plant will be sold under private Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), i.e. outside the tender process organized by the French energy regulator (CRE), and hence without recourse to public support mechanisms. ENGIE and NEOEN thus intend to demonstrate that photovoltaic solar energy is now sufficiently mature, reliable, and competitive to ensure a direct supply of electricity to industrial users. The local production of renewable and competitive energy will also allow the development of an electrolyzer and a data center powered directly by the solar photovoltaic plant, a first of its kind in France.
Given the scale of the project, close attention is being paid to its environmental impacts, particularly on the forest environment. The project, covering an area of approximately 1,000 hectares, comes within an area of fenced private plots dedicated to maritime pine production, and currently used by two private hunts. The impact on forestry dealt with through a set of regulatory, administrative, and technical procedures, will be subject to environmental authorization. This will include approval for clearance, associated with compensatory reforestation over a larger area. These data will be the subject of discussions with the forestry sector and the general public
