Development

Our developers seek, plan and demarcate potentially favorable wind and solar power plant sites in France and Africa.

There are several crucial steps when developing a successful wind farm:

– Demarcating the zones to be used while working with multiple spatial constraints

– Meeting local officials, landlords and farmers whose land may be used for wind farms or solar power stations

Once an agreement has been reached with the local authorities and landlords concerned, various feasibility studies are carried out: a detailed assessment of the electrical grid, an impact study (landscape, acoustic, flora and fauna, etc.) and ICPE studies in France (safety and sanitation assessments). Finally, building permits are requested from the various departments of the relevant authorities.

Don’t forget the technical assessments:

InnoVent and its subsidiaries possess the human and technical resources to carry out full pre-feasibility studies: visual impact, acoustics, civil and electrical engineering, etc. Our team oversees these assessments in order to keep any uncertainties to a minimum. Only surveys concerning flora, fauna and local habitats are performed by contracted certified surveyors.

Also, you need to think of the wind and sun potential:

At InnoVent, we have our own LIDAR measuring masts which are installed on site by our experienced technicians. The data are analyzed by our engineers and by independent experts from the 3E cabinet (Brussels). The data gathered by our masts provide the information needed to assess the wind power and therefore the wind potential for each site. This also enables us to choose the best possible technology for the site.

For solar power plants, we use the PVsyst program. This uses several different databases to measure the total sunshine received across Africa. We base our analyses on the most conservative data in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises once we start running our future solar power stations.