The TotalEnergies group inaugurated its first hydroelectric plant in the heights of Saint-Leu at the end of April. It works by turbinening the water passing through a reservoir in the irrigated perimeter of the west coast, from the Salazie cirque.
TotalEnergies was awarded a call for projects launched in 2017 by the Departmental Council aimed at the energy recovery of “tipping” water pipes. This contribution of hydroelectricity is included in the multi-annual energy programming and contributes to the objective of energy autonomy of the territory. Operation of the power plant, with a power of 150 kWp and whose production corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of 350 inhabitants, is planned for thirty years. The first Saint-Leu power plant in Reunion joins the 11 TotalEnergies hydroelectric power plants already in operation nationally.. In the meeting, the group produces 45 GWh of electricity annually from solar and wind energy, i.e. the equivalent of the annual consumption of 30,000 inhabitants. With current projects, this figure will reach 100 GWh by 2025, i.e. the annual consumption of 68,000 inhabitants.
