In a new report published on Thursday 29 August, the think-tank Ember has highlighted the benefits of agri-PV (agrivoltaics) in Europe, which allows the production of solar energy to be integrated into agricultural activities.
The report argues that this technique could be further developed in the countries of Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in order to meet their 2030 renewable energy targets.
Agri-PV could almost triple Central Europe’s current production of renewable electricity.
The authors of the report begin by stating that agri-PV can meet the challenges faced by ground-mounted solar power, such as social acceptance, land availability, grid connection, balancing and reducing collection costs.
Secondly, they say that the development of agri-PV could be a response to the farmers’ protests in 2024 “by enabling farmers to take part in the energy transition and benefit directly from it”.
The report therefore stresses the importance of legislation to promote agri-PV and guarantee access to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies for farmers who produce electricity.
It also recommends that legislation should include all types of agri-PV, that the benefits for farmers should be the main objective, and that subsidies for investment needs to be considered.
To see the report: https://aeur.eu/f/d90 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)