Ciel and Terre completes 11-MWp floating solar project in France

• Ciel & Terre has finished assembling an 11-MWp floating solar array at Saint-Élix-le-Château for Solveo Energies, advancing French FPV.

Ciel and Terre, the French pioneer of floating photovoltaics (FPV), has completed installation of an 11-MWp floating solar project at Saint-Élix-le-Château in southwestern France. Built for independent producer Solveo Energies, the plant sits on a man-made water body, turning underused surface area into a steady source of daytime power without competing for farmland.

FPV is gaining ground in Europe for simple reasons: it uses existing reservoirs and quarries, avoids new land-use conflicts, and can connect to nearby substations with shorter lines. On hot days, the cooling effect of water can improve module efficiency, while the array’s shade helps limit evaporation—a modest but welcome co-benefit in drought-prone summers. Ciel and Terre’s modular pontoons and anchoring systems are designed for local wind and wave conditions, spreading loads through mooring lines sized and oriented after site surveys.

Engineering details matter on water. Cable routes are raised and protected; inverters and transformers are placed onshore or on dedicated floating platforms with robust access walkways; and SCADA systems watch closely for ground faults, stray currents and changing weather. Environmental safeguards—fish passages, light-penetration studies, and careful anchoring to avoid sensitive habitats—are typically baked into permits.

Commercially, mid-sized FPV can be compelling where land is scarce or expensive. Standardized hardware and repeatable assembly sequences reduce installation time, while O&M routines—boat-based inspections, targeted cleaning, vegetation control on shore—are now well understood. For asset owners, the pitch is bankable: contracted output, resilient performance and a strong story on dual-use infrastructure.

With Saint-Élix-le-Château complete, FPV adds another pin to France’s renewable map—and offers a replicable template for municipalities and industrial water owners looking to host clean power without fencing off fields.