Prince de Bretagne: growers can be driving force in energy transition

By 2025, Prince de Bretagne expects 60 per cent of its tomato farms to be equipped with photovoltaic panels.

The French cooperative said its growers were “constantly striving to reduce their environmental impact” and were a “driving force in improving practices and making the energy transition”.

“Since 2024, we have gone from 25 per cent to 45 per cent of our under-shelter tomatoes equipped with photovoltaic panels,” the cooperative stated.

Such installations produce green electricity, some of which is consumed by the farm, with the surplus being fed into the electricity grid.

“By 2025, we expect 60 per cent of tomato farms to be equipped with photovoltaic panels,” Prince de Bretagne revealed. “Our partnership with Apepha illustrates Prince de Bretagne’s intention to actively support its market gardeners in carrying out these projects. What’s more, Apepha gives us the means to carry out transversal projects such as collective self-consumption.”

Apepha (Agriculteurs Producteurs d’Electricité Photovoltaïque Associés) was created in 2010 and aims to represent and serve photovoltaic electricity producers and professional project developers.

The brand participated in a project launched by the Ademe (French Agency for Ecological Transition) with the AOPn for tomatoes and cucumbers. The Pertomco project began in 2022, also involving other cooperatives. 

“The aim is to understand the impact of a tomato’s lifecycle,” Prince de Bretagne said. “The study covers three types of structure: heated above-ground greenhouses, heated organic greenhouses and unheated organic greenhouses, and two segments: vine tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.”

Workshops to identify areas for improvement throughout the growing cycle, from planting to packaging, have apparently been organised, while action tools to reduce the environmental footprint of tomatoes are set to be proposed at the end of the assessment.