Precursor of agrivoltaism in Reunion, renewable energy producer Akuo is now carrying out an offshore wind project with the Spanish company Blue Float Energy, specialized in wind power, in partnership with the maritime cluster of Reunion and the Temergie Energy Transition cluster.
Akuo is an independent French producer of renewable energy present in France, the French Overseas Territories and more than twenty countries. The group is involved in wind power, photovoltaics and energy storage. Akuo currently has 1,8 GW of assets in operation and under construction, and a project portfolio of more than 20 GW. With around twenty employees, the company has been established since its creation, in 2007, in the meeting. It locally manages 12 solar power plants, mainly in agrivoltaism, coupled with energy storage, the best known being located within the Port detention center, under the anticyclonic agrivoltaic greenhouses of Bardzour. Akuo made news on the island in early February by celebrating, on the Bardzour site, the anniversary of the birth of agrivoltaism, which reconciles agricultural culture and photovoltaism, fifteen years ago in Reunion. Since, the Reunion experience has spread to France and Europe. On the occasion of this anniversary, Akuo brought together players in the sector to discuss the future of the local sector, while the adoption of the law to accelerate renewable energies, early 2023, establishes for the first time a legal framework for agrivoltaism.
A project with a power of at least 200 megawatts
Akuo, which is also developing in wind power, took advantage of this anniversary to, the day after, present an attractive offshore wind project. Although still theoretical, the arguments in favor of this large-scale energy project are not lacking in relevance. Already associated in the Mediterranean as part of a call for tenders launched by the State for the construction of two floating offshore wind farms, the companies Akuo and Blue Float Energy are imagining a project in Reunion with a power of at least 200 MW, which would bring together a dozen wind turbines off the coast of Sainte-Suzanne and Sainte-Marie. The installation would generate around a quarter of the island's electricity consumption, additional renewable energy production decisive for achieving energy autonomy. Another argument, the implementation of such a project would avoid, according to its authors, the emission of 210,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and would guarantee a stable and acceptable electricity purchase price for citizens, while an increase in energy production costs on the island is planned by the Multi-Annual Energy Program (PPE), due to the importation of biomass to replace fossil fuels.
The ball in the administration’s court
“Floating offshore wind power is a technology adapted to the geography and weather conditions of the island. Due to the typology of Reunion Island, great depths of water are found moving away from the coast. The floats, anchored at several points on the seabed, present fewer challenges for local marine fauna and flora than most of the foundations used for installed wind turbines”, was it explained in substance. Between construction phase, wind farm management and maintenance, a new industrial sector could create several dozen jobs. To the objection of cyclonic hazard, it was answered that technical solutions resistant to extreme climatic conditions, in particular those of the island of Reunion, existent. Floating wind turbines withstood powerful typhoons in Japan. A message, it seems, heard by the main state service concerned, at DEAL, which has not yet decided on the follow-up to be given to it, which would a priori go through a call for tenders from the State. In mainland France, wind-generated electricity production amounted to 25,000 kWh during the first three quarters of 2022, or 7,4% of French electricity consumption.
