SPIE : helps create Alsace’s largest solar power station

Cergy, 8 March 2022 - The Industrie division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire, a French subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, has helped create the largest solar power station in Alsace for Krannich Solar. The power station is located in Wittelsheim in the French department of Haut-Rhin.

The nuclear power station in Fessenheim has been closed down and the current focus is on developing renewable energies. Now the German Krannich Group has won the contract to build the "Amélie Mine" solar power station in the French municipality of Wittelsheim. This contract has been awarded by the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). This new solar power station meets the photovoltaic sector's growth objectives, which have been set by the French multi-annual energy programmes (PPE) within the framework of the law on the energy transition for green growth.

The Wittelsheim power plant is built on the site of Alsace's former potash mines and has 68,508 photovoltaic panels, which cover 27 hectares and produce more than 26 MWp of energy. This makes it one of the largest photovoltaic power plant projects in France. It therefore meets a demand for decarbonised energy produced without artificialisation of the soil.

A unique technical connectivity solution

As SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire's Industrie division has a turnkey solution and a solid partnership with the customer, it was tasked with designing and constructing the evacuation substation connected to the 63 kV grid and the 20 kV HV secondary grid, connecting the 173 photovoltaic inverters and monitoring and controlling the overall system. This was a highly technical project, given that the power station's high energy output prevented it from being connected to the distribution network directly.

The Industrie division's Solutions & Expertise department has supported the Krannich Group right from the preliminary studies phase, helping it to define the connection to the public grid (RTE) and to design the entire facility, including electrical dimensioning work.

Integrated engineering, carried out right from the upstream phase, therefore gave Krannich Group a guarantee that the facility's constructional and functional characteristics would meet the requirements of the electricity transmission system operator, RTE. This solution, which few people know how to apply effectively, shows how the Industrie division can solve complex problems and create tailor-made solutions.

"The energy market is a strategic one for the Industrie division. The construction of this solar power plant enables us to consolidate our reputation as an expert in the renewable energies market and even more so in the photovoltaics market. It's also an opportunity to show that we can fully monitor and control an electrical network and oversee the production of electricity", states Benjamin Hamard, head of department within SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire's Industrie division.

A comprehensive integrated offer

To cover the entire value chain (from design and start-up to performance monitoring and operation of the HV network) and establish itself as a single point of contact for the Krannich Group, the Industrie division drew on the expertise of two SPIE France subsidiaries. SPIE CityNetworks teams carried out the excavation work, while teams from SPIE Thépault, a subsidiary of SPIE Nucléaire, were responsible for building the HV substation.

"The support provided by the teams of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire's Industrie division from the outset, their understanding of our concerns and their technical expertise played a major part in the award of this contract. To have a single point of contact available to us as part of a design and implementation project is also extraordinary", states Zakaria Diddou, the Managing Director of Krannich Solar Projekt GmbH.

The solar power station in Wittelsheim is currently entering its start-up phase.