Official decree: environmental and photovoltaic evaluation

From 2 July 2022, it is now official: the environmental evaluation will no longer be systematically requested when a photovoltaic project must be created.

Now is the power of photovoltaic installations and the reception structure of an installation that will be decisive criteria to define whether it is definitively free or not. A news that should delight a good number of professionals who wanted to equip their photovoltaic structures their parking areas and the land not exploited with quite quickly.

This article is for you if you want to know more about:

• Environmental evaluation for a photovoltaic project
• The decree of 2 July 2022 which establishes the end of the systematic environmental assessments for photovoltaics
• Projects for photovoltaic installations exempt environmental evaluation

Let’s go for the decryption!

1. What is an environmental evaluation of photovoltaic installation?

The purpose of the environmental evaluation is to illuminate the leaders of the project of photovoltaic installations and the administration on the continuation of the project as regards its impact on the environment. It is integrated with reflection, upstream in the development of the project and is often mandatory in the implementation of the project itself.

A. regulatory framework

The environmental evaluation is mainly governed by the law of 10 July 1976 in relation to the protection of nature but also by:

The environmental assessments of the projects allow to take into consideration the population and human health, the health of the territory, the potential (or tried) effects of the project on biodiversity, earth, land, water, air and climate. But also material goods, cultural heritage and landscape to be able to referee its authorization or not.

As part of photovoltaic installations, environmental studies can be mandatory depending on the structure and/or power of the installation. Therefore, the installations on the greenhouses of the greenhouses and the shadow, or even the projects on the ground, are not subject to the same conditions. But don’t panic! We wrote for you a summary table in this article in order to allow you to know if your sun project is worried or free.

B. Passage of an environmental evaluation

The environmental evaluation of a photovoltaic installation is considered valid when it goes correctly to these three phases:

• The development of an environmental impact assessment report (study on the impact of the project)
• Carry out consultations from an environmental authority
• Examination and approval from this authority

2. The end of the systematic environmental evaluation for solar

Published in the official magazine this Saturday 2 July, Decree no. 2022-970 of 1 July 2022 describes in detail the conditions and reasons of this modification. The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion also justifies the improvement of the exemption threshold by the fact that all structures are not the same in terms of environmental impact even if «they must however be taken into consideration in the analysis of the impacts of this construction». This suggestion, previously transported by Barbara Pompili from the consultation of this project of decree in November 2021.

Therefore, the decree increases the thresholds for installations that can still be subject to environmental evaluation while definitively exemptions the photovoltaic shadow or any installation on a parking lot. And this change translates as follows:

Summary table of the needs of environmental studies for photovoltaics:

It should be noted that as soon as this decree is published, the threshold of projects above 250 kWc (Crêtes Kilowatt) for earth installations has been improved at 300 kWc for the first threshold, therefore of a power equal to or greater than 1 MWC (Megawatt Crest) for the second, the indicator is generalized in all structures. Today, all photovoltaic installations for professionals are worried, according to their power threshold and their type of structure.

3. A measurement of acceleration

This «acceleration measure», combined with access to the open meter for all photovoltaic installations of up to 500 kWc, will concern industrial/tertiary companies in the first place or GMS (large surfaces and medium). These will actually be happy to note that an exemption from the environmental study is also synonymous with savings over time in the execution of their solar projects.

But there is no doubt to ignore the environmental impact: the taking of the structures has significantly decreased in a few years, while allowing more advantageous made thanks to the powers of the photovoltaic panels that evolve at high speed. Less surface, more production, while mastering the environmental impact. Good news for the maintenance of the territories, as for investors.