EDP RENOVAVEIS : Renewables celebrates the opening of the Escardes and Bouchy-Saint-Genest wind farm

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EDPR is celebrating the opening of a new wind farm in France today. The 12 MW wind farm is located in the municipalities of Bouchy-Saint-Genest and Escardes, Department of Marne, in the new region of Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine. This wind farm's output will allow it to supply clean energy to around 11,000 homes.

Yves Détraigne, Senator for the Department of Marne, Jacques Beaujean, Regional Councillor, François Curfs, Mayor of Escardes and Frédéric Lanoë, Managing Director of EDP Renewables France and Belgium are all set to attend the inaugural ceremony.

The Escardes and Bouchy-Saint-Genest wind farm is equipped with six wind turbines, the installation of which was approved following studies which took into account human, technical, environmental and regulatory considerations. The wind farm's development was also subject to studies aimed at avoiding and minimising, to the fullest extent possible, its impact on the immediate surroundings. The completion of the project is thanks to a close working relationship between the public administration, the community and other local stakeholders.

Escardes and Bouchy-Saint-Genest is EDP Renewables France's first wind farm to have received crowdfunding through the online Lendosphère platform. This allowed citizens to partially fund construction of the facility using a system of subsidised loans. The residents of eight local communities located in the immediate vicinity of the wind farm will benefit from even higher interest rates than other contributors. This crowdfunding transaction was an outstanding success and will serve as a model for future developments.

The wind farm also contributes towards France's renewable energy targets; France has to install a total of 19,000 MW of on-shore wind energy by 2020. This new wind farm will take EDPR's installed capacity in France to 364 MW, making it the fifth leading producer of wind energy on a nationwide level.