Compagnie des Alpes has organised an extensive competitive bidding process to develop solar canopies at its Futuroscope, Walibi Rhône-Alpes and Parc Astérix sites. Field studies will begin in January for Futuroscope and Walibi Rhône-Alpes with a view to starting work before the end of 2024 for commissioning in 2025. The Group selected GreenYellow at the end of the tender process.
Developing canopies at Compagnie des Alpes parks will help secure the energy supply and optimise the cost of electricity consumed on site. In line with the Group’s environmental commitments, this development will also allow Compagnie des Alpes to contribute to the production of renewable energy. Moreover, canopies will help improve the welcome we extend to our customers by eventually offering charging stations for electric vehicles.
The projects undertaken at Futuroscope and Walibi Rhône-Alpes represent a potential total of approximately 12 MWp of power, amounting to around 13 GWh produced per year. Most of the energy produced will be consumed on site, generating significant savings on electricity transport costs. These projects would therefore cover nearly 25% of our self-consumption of electricity. Any excess energy produced will be fed into the grid, thus contributing to France’s aims of increasing renewable energy production.
The Group plans to install canopies in all car parks at Compagnie des Alpes leisure parks, starting with Walibi Belgium in 2023 and followed by Futuroscope and Walibi Rhône-Alpes in 2025 and Parc Astérix and Bellewaerde from 2026. In the long term, nearly 30 GWh could be produced by solar power at Compagnie des Alpes parks, representing around 15% of the Group’s total electricity consumption.
Compagnie des Alpes CEO Dominique Thillaud said: “After the unprecedented surge in electricity prices in 2023, the development of canopies is aimed at limiting our exposure to the electricity market while helping to decarbonise energy production. As a company with solid know-how in these technologies, GreenYellow was able to make an attractive offer, providing clarity and guarantees, which now allows us to make rapid progress on the roll-out of our electricity generation and self-consumption strategy.”
Compagnie des Alpes Deputy CEO Loic Bonhoure said: “Solar power is an electricity generation solution that is well-suited to our parks’ consumption profile: we plan to develop it on a large scale in our car parks, mainly focusing on self-consumption, and feeding supply back into the grid when relevant to optimise the overall cost for our sites. This rapid deployment is an essential component of the Group’s electricity supply strategy, alongside measures aimed at reducing our consumption, securing our market supply, and potentially signing PPAs[1]. We look forward to entering this new phase alongside GreenYellow.”
[1] PPA: Power Purchase Agreement
