Renewable energy developer and asset management company RES has obtained planning permission for a 65.5MW floating solar project, which will be installed in a former quarry in northeastern France.

RES stated that the plant will be built on a 127-hectare former gravel pit site in the Grand Est area and is the largest floating photovoltaic project authorized by France so far. The project will use solar modules fixed on anchored buoys and is scheduled to be commissioned before the end of 2023.

RES Solar Director Céline Spitzhorn said: "The first authorization paves the way for our other similar projects." He added that the company is currently developing a portfolio of floating photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of more than 200MW. France already has a 17MWp floating solar project, which is said to be the largest of its kind when it is completed in 2019. EDF Renewables is also currently constructing a 20MW floating project, which will co-exist with Lazer Hydropower and be planted in southeastern France.

Elsewhere, renewable energy developer BayWa recently completed the installation of two total 71MWp in the Netherlands, which is said to be the largest floating photovoltaic power plant outside of Asia.

Keywords: new energy, overseas engineering, international engineering construction, foreign engineering construction news

According to the announcement last month, Hanwha Solutions has obtained an agreement to acquire the RESMéditerranée Hotel, a renewable energy development and construction business owned by RES, a 5GW French pipeline in utility-scale solar, onshore wind power and storage projects.Editor/XuNing