Among the national objectives for the energy transition, the PPE aims to double the share of renewable energies to around 33% of electricity consumption by 2030.
In this context, solar energy has three key objectives:
RWE develops, finances, builds and operates a large number of solar farms in collaboration with local stakeholders in France, thereby helping to achieve national objectives in terms of the energy transition.
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Inaugurated in September 2025, the Pierrières solar plant is an excellent example of how local communities can turn abandoned land into an asset for their territory.
The plant now supplies renewable electricity to around 1,500 households and generates substantial local economic benefits, which will allow the municipality of Ardillières to renovate several public buildings, including the school.
At RWE, we create competitive, high-performance projects using local resources combined with leading international expertise. This approach allows us to develop our projects in a sustainable way, drawing on our global experience while contributing to the economic and environmental strength of our local communities.
RWE has all the resources and skills needed to design, build, operate and maintain our solar farms.
Our teams work closely with local stakeholders, drawing on their expertise to develop projects that are concerted, efficient and deliver value for the local community.
RWE's teams are responsible for identifying and securing (leasing/purchasing) land suitable for a large-scale photovoltaic power plant, particularly sites ranging from five to several dozen hectares.
Identifying suitable sites for the development of a solar farm requires a solid understanding of the issues associated with the area, including technical, agricultural, landscape, environmental, heritage aspects, etc. Our teams take charge of accurately identifying these constraints and any sensitivities associated with solar energy.
We work on the development of efficient, well-thought-out, and well-integrated photovoltaic projects. Local authorities are systematically consulted from the earliest stages of development to fully understand local issues and to build a project that is suited to each environment.
To build and operate solar farms, planning permission needs to be obtained from the relevant Prefect. To this end an impact study comprising an environmental study and a landscape study is carried out. Both are conducted over a full annual cycle, with the aim of establishing the potential impacts of the power plants and proposing carefully considered, concerted measures to avoid, reduce or compensate for these impacts.
We take a distinctive approach to financing our renewable energy projects. Unlike the conventional method where a project company uses a bank to finance the construction of its wind farm, at RWE we favour equity financing. This approach gives us greater flexibility and speed, making our projects more successful.
Our engineers are responsible for building the plants, from design to commissioning.
The work involves installing the photovoltaic modules, burying the cables and connecting them to the electricity grid. This usually takes several months, depending on the size of the plant. Once the connection has been made, the array can be commissioned.
Once our plants have been commissioned, our teams take care of monitoring and maintenance. RWE carries out preventive and remedial work to keep our photovoltaic power plants running smoothly. Monitoring the operation of photovoltaic installations guarantees optimised productivity for the long term.
The installations are monitored remotely 24/7by our teams, guaranteeing an immediate response if necessary.
The terms and conditions for dismantling a solar power plant are generally set out in the lease or occupancy agreement signed with the landowner. They are aimed at restoring the site to its original state. However, there is an alternative, known as repowering, whereby the solar power plant is dismantled and its existing modules replaced with more efficient ones, in line with the evolution of technology since the commissioning of the plant.
Repowering solar power plants has the advantage of being able to continue, or even increase , the production of renewable electricity by reusing the same land, thus contributing to a more efficient use of land resources.
The vast majority of materials used in photovoltaic panels (which have a lifespan of at least 30 years) are recyclable: 94% of a solar panel's materials are recyclable today, compared to 70% just a few years ago.
A photovoltaic installation consists of the following components:
The panels, which remain the key element of a power plant, are composed of:
Among these components, only 6% are not recyclable!
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Whether it is for ground-mounted power plants on fixed or mobile structures, floating power plants or agrivoltaic projects, we use our expertise to create projects to suit the specific conditions at the site.
By means of feed-in tariffs or over-the-counter electricity supply contracts, our team develops projects in areas where photovoltaic energy is most valuable.
At RWE, we develop efficient, well thought-out power plant projects that are integrated into the local environment.
Thanks to their optimised power/cost ratio, ground-mounted power plants play a significant role in achieving France's solar energy targets.
RWE develops projects on land ranging from five to several dozen hectares.
Floating photovoltaics represent a considerable opportunity to support the energy transition. This technology responds to concerns about the use of land, while offering owners the possibility of adding value to their artificial water bodies.
Agricultural co-activity is the synergy between adding value to agricultural production and producing low-carbon electricity on the same plot of land.
RWE adapts its solutions to the challenges of agricultural activities in the face of climate change in order to ensure the long-term viability of projects serving the local area.
