Focola
The first agrivoltaic power plant in New Caledonia
Focola is a solar plant located at La Foa, in the South Province of New Caledonia. The first agrivoltaic plant commissioned in New Caledonia, it comprises 16 photovoltaic greenhouses with a total capacity of 1.7 MW.
The first agrivoltaic greenhouses deployed in the Pacific
Focola was born of the initiative of local farmer Jean-Christophe Niautou, who wanted to adapt our cyclone-proof greenhouses to his crop production. Indeed, the cyclone-proof aspect of the greenhouses offers a significant advantage in terms of safeguarding an agricultural holding in this region affected by cyclones every year. Very committed to responsible farming, Mr. Niautou thus wanted to experiment with permaculture processes. This new activity allowed him to create several jobs.
Furthermore, this plant is participating in the energy self-sufficiency of New Caledonia, a territory all the more eager to undertake its energy transition given that, for many years, it was the subject of intensive mining that harmed its fragile ecosystem with its extremely rich biodiversity.
This plant was developed in partnership with Enercal Energies Nouvelles, the 100% subsidiary of New Caledonia’s electricity grid management company Enercal devoted to renewable energy, to together found SAS Focola, the entity in charge of this project.
Our CSR commitments
Cyclone-proof agrivoltaic greenhouses
The first plant in the Pacific with agrivoltaic greenhouses, Focola enables harvests to be protected from the frequent bad weather, thus guaranteeing agricultural production for the island’s inhabitants.
Creation of sustainable farming jobs
The construction of these greenhouses has contributed to the development of Jean-Christophe Niautou’s agricultural holding, enabling the farm’s yields to be improved as harvests are no longer lost a number of times a year thanks to the cyclone-proof nature of the greenhouses. With farming production increasing, requirements with regard to manual labor have also increased, enabling numerous local jobs to be created.
Responsible Agricultural Production and short channel of distribution
As well as their cyclone-proof aspect, the greenhouses also have rainwater recuperation tanks, anti-pest nets and insect hotels (beneficial, pollinators) in order to meet the “Responsible Farming” certification already in place on J-C Niautou’s land for several years now.
