2,400 solar panels spread over more than three kilometers. The Yverdon viaduct has been dressed, since May, from these installations. The work will last until the end of 2025, at a cost, covered by the Confederation, which reached 3.5 million francs. The Federal Road Office (OFROU) has a goal in mind: to develop and encourage the exploitation of its road infrastructure for the production of renewable energy. But the choice of Yverdon was not made at random: “As it is a viaduct which was assaini two or three years ago, we have an infrastructure on which we should not reintervement for the next 25 years,” explains Olivier Floc’hic, communication manager within the office. The electricity produced by the installation of the Yverdon viaduct, which is equivalent to the supply of 400 households for 4 people, will be reinjected in the Yverdonnois network. “We cannot go to the tunnel which is a stone’s throw from here” to use the energy produced directly on the roads, underlines the manager
A pilot project
The Yverdon viaduct, as an ideal candidate for such an installation, ticks all the boxes in terms of safety and accessibility. In the future, the Observation by OFROU of the Solar Infrastructure of Yverdon “will allow you to know to what extent it can be developed in a more important way,” explains Olivier Floc’hic.
Other pilot projects, in connection with solar panels, have notably been installed in the Jura: “It is a project in which we will test different types of installations, especially in terms of inclination with the sun, to see which are the most efficient,” adds Olivier Floc’hic.
An ideal candidate, but not without challenges
The equipment of the Yverdon viaduct is done in collaboration with the Helion solar panel installer. On the company’s side, the realization was not easy either: “At the beginning the structure that had been imagined was visible from the highway, which posed problems from a security point of view”, underlines Antoine Choux, photovoltaic project manager, in charge of the realization for Yverdon.
