French banks have agreed to loan a German renewables company more than €50m towards to cost of building Europe’s largest floating solar power plant.

Berlin-based Q Energy is planning to site a 74MW solar farm in a flooded gravel pit in the Haute-Marne department of northeastern France.The project, which is already under way, will involve fitting 134,649 solar modules to six anchored “islands” that will eventually cover 127ha.

Once completed in the first half of next year, Les Ilot Blandin, as the project is called, will supply the equivalent of 37,000 inhabitants with electricity.The financing was arranged with Crédit Agricole’s financing arm Unifergie, and state-owned investment bank BPI France.

Pascale Courcelle, head of energy and environment financing at BPI France, commented in a press statement: “As a climate bank, BPI France is proud to contribute to the financing of the largest floating solar power plant in Europe. This project represents a major advancement and addresses the energy transition challenges of the future.”

Ludovic Ferrer, commercial director of Q Energy France, added: “Together, we are taking one of the most innovative technologies for clean power generation to a new level and giving a further boost to renewable energies in France.”

Q Energy has a portfolio of 2.3GW of renewable energy assets and a development pipeline in excess of 15GW.