Orange inks PPA for 77 MWp of French solar

French telecommunications giant Orange SA (EPA:ORA) has agreed to procure electricity from a 77-MWp solar park being built by compatriot solar-storage developer ZE Energy in southwestern France.

The corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) will provide the telecoms group with 90 GWh of electricity for 15 years, it said on Tuesday. The electricity volumes will go for Orange’s networks and infrastructure facilities.

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The contracted power will come from a photovoltaic (PV) park currently being installed in Vert, in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The complex will cover 60 ha acres of municipal land and will be coupled with a battery energy storage system of 14.8 MW/33.5 MWh.

The Vert hybrid park will be connected to the Enedis network and should start feeding electricity in early 2025.

“This type of PPA guarantees us competitive renewable energy and also allows, thanks to batteries, to store it when there is a surplus in order to avoid losses,” said Jean-Francois Fallacher, CEO of Orange France.

Separately, ZE Ennergy announced it has secured EUR 52 million (USD 56.2m) in senior debt financing for the Vert project from Bpi France and Caisse d'Epargne Ile-de-France. The overall investment for the scheme is estimated at EUR 84 million.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.081)