Dhamma Energy celebrated last week the laying of the foundation stone of the 87.5MWp Athies-Samoussy park, a large solar plant in the northern France region of Hauts-de-France.
The ceremony marks the start of the construction of the project located at the former NATO airbase of Laon-Athies. Works have begun in September and will last one year.
"We can be proud to see the birth of a project of such magnitude that is going to participate in the fight against climate change", said co-founder of Dhamma Energy Philippe Esposito.
Investment for the Athies-Samoussy solar park stands at around 70 million euros. Among the investors in the project are public and private groups.
Record for crowdfunding
The Athies-Samoussy solar park set a record for crowdfunding. The project collected 1.1 million euros through the platform Lendosphere in 25 days last July. This amount is a record for crowdfunding for a solar project awarded at national auctions in France. Only local investors participated in the gathering of funds.
The Athies-Samoussy project was a winner at two national auctions that took place last year in France.
The solar park will cover a surface area of 100 hectares at the former airbase of Laon-Athies and will provide a new use for the site. Yearly electricity production will be 93 GWh; this is the equivalent of the domestic consumption of 40.000 households.