Increase the penetration rate of renewable energy in rural areas

The SMAP project is a demonstrator supported by 10 partners and co-managed by AURA-EE and ENEDIS. Sustained by the production of photovoltaic installations operated by the local citizen company, SAS Centrales Villageoises de la Région de Condrieu, in the village of Les Haies (Pilat Regional Nature Park), this project aims to test and simulate different solutions for increasing the penetration rate of renewable energy in rural areas (on low voltage).

During the experimentation carried out between 2010 and 2014, the Centrales Villageoises local companies studied many photovoltaic projects and found that above a certain threshold, significant reinforcement of the electricity grid is necessary, with financial costs that are sometimes blocking the projects.

An experimentation conducted in the village of Les Haies

This was particularly true for the first photovoltaic operation carried out in the village of Les Haies by SAS Centrales Villageoises de la Région de Condrieu. As the first photovoltaic village power plant in France, this operation served as a support for the SMAP demonstrator.

The SMAP project has facilitated the integration of renewable energies into rural electricity grids, through three objectives:

• Optimise the deployment of renewable energy sources of electricity, through innovative technical solutions
• Raise public awareness on energy management and the challenges of operating the electricity grid
• Provide the territories with tools to facilitate the integration of electricity networks into their energy planning.

[Updated: July 2019]