From pv magazine France
French hydrogen specialist HDF Energy recently commissioned a new factory in Blanquefort, western France, where it will produce high-power PEM hydrogen fuel cells for the maritime and rail heavy mobility sectors.
To supply the building with renewable electricity and for the testing stage of its fuel cells, the company chose to install a 500 kW self-consumption solar power plant on the roof.
“It is a fairly complex roof designed by the Patriarche Architectes group,” Christian Baudon, president of French consultancy Christian Baudon Conseil, told pv magazine France. “it has 12 sheds which give it a sawtooth appearance typical of industrial workshops.”
The company was responsible for the PV system design and is currently overseeing around ten C&I projects on logistics, commercial, factory and aircraft hall buildings in the Bordeaux region, as well as around Carcassonne and Perpignan.
“The solar power plant is made up of 12 blocks of 41/42 kW each,” added Baudon. “We used four Sungrow SG110CX inverters located on the roof, with three sheds per inverter and 18 strings per inverter.”
The facility also features 1,149 Trina Solar TSM-435 W modules, which were installed on the southern slope of the roof by French EPC contractor Eiffage. The project began in September 2023 and should be completed in a month and a half.
“One of the main difficulties was the weather conditions,” said Baudon. “The slope is 38 degrees, and the roof turns into an ice rink when it rains.”
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Given this steep inclination, the modules are mounted on a steel tray with a “mini-rail” fixing system from the German provider Novotegra.
The company did not say how much was invested in the project, but said its levelized cost of energy (LCOE) over 20 years is between €0.03 ($0.0325)/kWh and €0.04/kWh.
“Based on one fuel cell manufactured per month, which is initially planned, the production of 578 MWh/year in P90 and 626 MWh/year in P50 will make it possible to achieve a self-production rate of 83% and a self-consumption rate of 20% to 30%,” said Baudon. The surplus will be injected into the network for €0.114/kWh.
“Subsequently, if HDF Energy switches to two fuel cells produced per month, the production of the plant will surely no longer be sufficient for quality tests,” said Baudon. Two possibilities will then open up: obtaining green electricity from other sources or increase the power of the solar power plant.
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