Italy’s Falck Renewables said on Tuesday that it has signed a partnership agreement with French agricultural research and development (R&D) institute Idele to collaborate on the development of agrivoltaic projects across France.
The renewables firm expects to benefit from best practices and insights in the agriculture sector and incorporate them into its agrivoltaic projects from the earliest stages of development. Idele, which is focused on ruminant livestock farming and breeding, will use data from the agrivoltaic projects for research to further develop its understanding of the benefits combining energy production with agriculture, the announcement reads.
The first projects are already in development, said Falck Renewables, soon to be known as Renantis.
“Agrivoltaics is an opportunity to diversify livestock farms and consolidate their technical and economic results, with importance placed on maintaining the balance between agricultural production and energy production,” said Jerome Pavie, Head of the Forage and Pastoralism Department at Idele.
Added Bertrand Belben, Development Director of Falck Renewables France: “"The purpose of this collaboration is to strengthen the mutual trust between the agricultural world and the energy world, furthering the benefits to the agriculture sector while keeping the farmer’s voice at the heart of what we do.”
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