The Ministry of Energy of Luxembourg has allocated 52.7 MW of PV capacity across 14 projects in the country's first tender for agrivoltaic projects. The tender was originally supposed to allocate 50 MW. The selected projects will spread across the country and will occupy a total surface of 73.5 hectares.

The Ministry of Energy noted significant diversity in the use of agricultural land for solar projects. They have designated such facilities for deployment on meadows used for fodder or grass production, pastures accommodating cattle, sheep, chickens, and Iberian pigs, as well as arable land with crop rotation and an orchard hosting laying hens.

Among the 14 selected projects, eight will incorporate solar trackers, while one will feature a shade roof.

Although specific details regarding the final prices of the tender were not provided by the ministry, they emphasized that the selection process considered not only securing the best price but also factored in ecological and agricultural considerations. These considerations entail enhancing the ecological quality of the area through the project and maintaining agricultural usage of the area with the participation of an active farmer.

An essential criterion in this tender focused on promoting biodiversity through the photovoltaic systems. Patrick Witte from the project developer GPSS, which is directly involved in four of the 14 chosen schemes, noted the emphasis on increasing biodiversity in these agrivoltaic projects.

“For the first time in the history of photovoltaic tenders in Luxembourg, this tender was oversubscribed,” said Witte.

Priority was given to PV systems with output below 2 MW and various types of use, such as pasture and arable land.