For a fish farm, predatory birds are pests that kill and damage the farm’s fish stocks.
Power company ABB says that perhaps the most effective and profitable way to protect the fish is to camouflage the water with a structure - like a roof-top photovoltaic power plant.
This is precisely what ABB has done at the Mézos fish farm in southwestern France.
The PV plant is owned by Soleil des Landes, a special purpose company, which sells the power to the grid operator, while providing the fish with the protection they need from predatory birds. It also provides the farm with revenues from renting the space above the water to Soleil des Landes.
ABB provided a complete balance of system solution for the PV power plant, including design, engineering, project management, installation and commissioning.
The solution comprises all the electrical and automation equipment - inverters, DC and AC cabinets, transformers, switchgear, cabling, equipment housing, control and SCADA with remote access, as well as system optimisation to ensure a high yield despite the challenging surface dimensions of the water. ABB was also responsible for providing a substation that is engineered to meet the grid requirements of the local medium voltage transmission system.
The farm is owned by Viviers de France, one of the country’s leading seafood and land-based fish farming companies. Soleil des Landes is part of Groupe UNITe.
