Several collectives were present at a press conference this Monday morning at the ZAC de Lacoste-Lavabreille, in Saint-Martin de Valglgagues. The challenge of the future photovoltaic park which will finish being installed this fall was on the agenda.
The photovoltaic park project in Saint-Martin de Valglgagues has been underway for a long time. In 2014, a public inquiry was carried out on this subject. In the fall of 2023, 34,749 panels will be installed in the Lacoste-Lavabreille area, according to figures from Alès Agglomeration, extending over approximately 32 hectares, including nine for cell installations. A building promising to cover the annual consumption of approximately 15,000 people, on “flood-prone, non-buildable and non-cultivable” wasteland, according to the words of the Agglo.
However, this solar power plant still has opponents. A press conference was held at the scene on Monday morning. Several groups were present to bring their point of view on the question. Sébastien Espagne, representing the CERBA collective (Renewable energy citizen collective of the Alesian basin) first took the floor, stating that around twenty people have been meeting for months to discuss the project. He mentions not being anti-renewable energy, but not at any price.
“It was an orchard transformed into a ZAC project that never saw the light of day. The Agglomeration bought the sector at the end of the 2000s. Today, the area is natural with sometimes protected species”, he exclaims. “A real rare pearl“as described by these opponents, built in a flood zone and classified red on the PPRI. As a result, “the panels will be perched five meters high on large metal structures seriously denaturing the ground of the plot”, according to the press release distributed on site.
The future photovoltaic park does not please everyone • Sacha Virga
Total, the inconvenient company
Another point that bothers the opponents is that the project is led by Total Energies. According to the figures mentioned by Sébastien Espagne, Alès Agglomeration rents this plot to Total for the sum of 12,500 euros per month over 30 years, or 4.5 million euros. The planned cost for the installation of the plant would be estimated at around 20 million euros. A profit for Total estimated at 270 million euros over the entire contract, a colossal margin for the critics of the project.
The press release specifies that Total Energies will produce at a cost of 60 euros per megawatt/hour and that certain towns in the agglomeration renegotiating their electricity contract have been offered the price of 420 euros per megawatt/hour; seven times the cost of production. Finally, in the last point, it is mentioned that local democracy would have been flouted. According to the written comments, the Agglomeration of Grand Alès would not have taken the trouble to discuss the project with elected officials and the local population.
As a solution, those opposed to the project propose the creation of an inter-municipal electricity board or an electricity pole. The CERBA representative also regrets the lack of citizen participation in the production of renewable energies. Taking the example of our German neighbors, where we find 51% of the energy production of citizen renewable energies. Element to take into account: by 2030, 30% of the energy used must come from renewable energies. An obligation “which does not justify the waste made”, explains Sébastien Spain.
ATTAC Total attack
The second person to speak, the ATTAC representative was very critical of Total Energies, describing the CAC 40 shareholder as “climate criminal“. She recalled the involvement of the multi-energy company in the shale gas exploitation project a few years ago, in addition to its current investment in this same gas in Argentina. She explains that Total will be involved in 300 new gas projects in Europe over the next ten years and that more than 400 oil wells will be drilled in Uganda, endangering the local flora and fauna.
Then, Béatrice Ladrange, elected opposition member of the city of Alès and the Agglomeration, continued the conference, dropping a small tackle on the capital of the Cévennes: “Alès makes all his communication about the fact that this area was a non-buildable and non-cultivable area, which is false”she explains, before continuing: “The city is very good at collecting labels, sometimes without much interest”, she criticizes. The chosen one from the list The Alesian Spring affirms that 9% of the energy consumption of the Agglo comes from renewable energies. Far from the 20% of other intermunicipalities of the same size.
Sacha Virga
