Q Energy switches on Europe’s largest floating PV plant

Q Energy and partners recently inaugurated a 74.3 MW floating PV plant in France – the largest of its kind in Europe. pv magazine visited the site to examine the technologies and innovations behind the project.

From pv magazine France

The Les Ilots Blandin floating power plant, with more than 134,000 panels, extends across the site in Perthes, Haute-Marne. It sits on basins formed by flooded former gravel pits that closed in 2020, on the grounds of local company Etablissements Blandin.

“Although the site covers 127 hectares, the actual surface area available for the floating panels was 45.5 hectares,” Vincent Pinchou, project manager at French floating solar developer Ciel et Terre, told pv magazine France.

He said the project spans 45.49 hectares. With a total capacity of 74.3 MW—72.3 MW floating and 2 MW ground-mounted – it stands as Europe’s largest operational floating PV installation. It comprises six islands, each with capacities between 8 MW and 17 MW.

To meet tight deadlines, all stakeholders in the site’s design and construction adapted and standardized their processes. For example, Ciel et Terre supplied 230,000 recyclable high-density polyethylene (HDPE) floats and managed anchoring, module, and inverter installation on the floating structures. Its French factory produced up to 8,000 floats per week, enabling the simultaneous assembly of three islands.

“The shape of the plant also helped us optimize the design, planning, and construction,” said Pinchou. “For example, we maintained a rectangular structure as much as possible, which allowed us to standardize the strings with 27 modules each. In total, 5,000 strings were thus assembled in a uniform manner.”

Alongside Ciel et Terre, Perpetum oversaw the procurement of inverters and 16 supply and transformation substations, and constructed the ground-based power plant adjacent to the floating installations. Solutions30, the consortium’s lead contractor, managed cabling, connections, and commissioning.

DAS Solar supplied 134,541 solar panels and plans to build a gigafactory in France. The company produced the modules at its facility in Quzhou. in China's Zhejiang province. Vincent Cao, the company’s marketing manager, said the project was designed more than two years ago, so it uses 550 Wp passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) modules.

The modules were installed at a 5-degree tilt on structures mounted on plastic floats. Pinchou said Ciel et Terre offers two standard tilts, at 5 degrees and 12 degrees. He explained that a steeper angle causes panels to shade each other more, requiring greater spacing and more surface area, which was not available on this site. He added that a steeper tilt increases wind resistance, raising the need for anchors and floats. He said choosing a shallow angle achieved an optimal balance between density, stability, and efficiency.

For energy producer Q Energy, which developed the plant, floating solar power represents a future technology, especially for northern France, where it could better exploit solar potential. Corentin Sivy, development director of Q Energy France, said one of the main challenges is establishing economics because floating power plants do not have dedicated calls for tender and must compete with ground-based solar projects in calls for tender by the French energy regulator (CRE).

The project was financed by Q Energy in September 2024 through a fundraising of more than €50 million ($57.9 million) led by Crédit Agricole Transitions & Énergies and Bpifrance. Velto Renewables acquired a 50% stake in the first quarter of 2025. The Spanish renewable energy company purchased a portfolio of five projects developed by Q Energy, including three solar and two wind assets.

“This partnership with a well-established French company has allowed us to establish a solid foothold in France,” Lucas de Haro, CEO of Velto Renewables, told pv magazine France. “And we're here to stay.”