https://reasonstobecheerful.world/bordeaux-france-solar-city-race/
"Bordeaux’s submarine base was once a place of battle. Built by the Germans
during the Second World War, the hulking concrete edifice in the north of the
wine-loving French city was used to launch attacks against the Allied Forces.
Today, however, the site is fighting a different kind of fight — the war on
fossil fuels.
Its ammunition is 6,600 photovoltaic panels, which are being transported from
the ground somewhat spectacularly by helicopter, reducing emissions five-fold
compared to using cranes, according to city authorities. The outcome: A 13,000
square meter solar power plant, set to produce 3.4 megawatts of energy, which
when completed in March 2026 will be the largest urban rooftop solar site in
France.
“We have to solarize everything we possibly can,” says Claudine Bichet, the
deputy mayor responsible for climate change and the energy transition at
Bordeaux City Hall. “We believe in this approach and we are advancing very
quickly.”
Since the election of Bordeaux’s ecologist mayor Pierre Hurmic in 2020, the
ninth biggest city in France has undergone an electrifying transformation,
underlining the growing potential and need for urban solar. In 2020, Bordeaux
produced just three percent of its own energy. By the end of 2026, the
proportion is set to reach 41 percent, largely thanks to solar but also through
other renewables like wind and biomass.
That incredible transformation is in significant part thanks to the 60,000
square meters of solar panels that are being installed across the city on
municipal buildings and in public spaces, from the roof of the iconic submarine
base to schools, sports facilities, city hall, parking lots, cycle paths and
even the city’s ring road.
It’s a shining example of harnessing sun-sourced energy and Bichet is
unequivocal about the city’s goal: “We want to become France’s number one solar
city.”
By the end of 2025, more than half of the targeted 60,000 square meters of
solar will have been completed, according to Bichet, and she says the city is
confident of reaching its ultimate goal by the end of next year."
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*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
