Property assets

Departmental Council of Indre et Loire

AMOA and Assistance to Contractualization 03/09/2021 #ITHERM Conseil
Assistance to the client in installing photovoltaic equipment for the secondary school of the département.
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Type of assignment

ITHERM CONSEIL assisted its client in defining and implementing a contract aimed at installing photovoltaic facilities on the roofs and in the car parks of the département’s secondary schools.

 

The assignment included:

  • A study of the photovoltaic potential of the secondary schools in Indre et Loire (54 sites),
  • A study of the model contracts suitable for project fulfilment,
  • Assistance in awarding the contract (drafting the competitive bidding documents, assistance in negotiating and finalizing the contract).

 

ITHERM CONSEIL carried out this assignment in its capacity as agent for a consortium formed with PINTAT AVOCATS.

Project leader

About the subsidiary involved in the project

A few figures

2019/2021

Duration of the project

€7 million

Estimated amount of the investments borne by the operator

The assignment

Study of the potential

The site inventory concerned 53 secondary schools and the sports complex of the département’s council. The assignment estimated the maximum installable output per site, for photovoltaic equipment installed:

  • On the roofs of the buildings,
  • On the shade structures of car parks,
  • On the ground.

 

The study was based on known data from the sites and aerial views.

It was estimated that 7 MWp could be installed on the building, and nearly 1 MWp on the shade structures and the ground.

 

The expected photovoltaic power generation was also evaluated; these facilities should generate roughly 8.3 GWh of green electricity every year.

 

However, many constraints and unknowns mean that the actual project cannot be scaled with such targets, in particular the type, age and condition of the roofs (load-bearing capacity, type of insulant and weather-proofing), the buildings located in zone ABF, and ENEDIS’s connection limits.

 

It has been decided that a realistic and achievable target is 4.25 GWh of green electricity generated per annum, equal to 50% of the average annual consumption of all the secondary schools over the past 5 years (namely 8.5 GWh/year).

Study of the model contracts

The model contracts were studied in partnership with PINTAT AVOCATS. The legal memorandum submitted to the Département presented:

  • The legal framework applying to a photovoltaic project implemented by a local authority like CD37,
  • The structuring tools for supporting photovoltaic projects (private operator, local public corporation, semi-public company, semi-public single-purpose company, etc.)
  • The contractual tools for implementing a large-scale photovoltaic project (temporary occupancy permit, lease, public procurement contract or licensing contract).

 

ITHERM CONSEIL and PINTAT then carried out a comparative analysis of different financing packages and their strengths and weaknesses.

This work prompted the CD37 to select a financial arrangement with a private operator under a temporary public land occupancy agreement.

Award of the contract

ITHERM CONSEIL and PINTAT AVOCATS then assisted the CD37 in putting in place a call for expressions of interest aimed at choosing the private operator to award the contract to.

We were thus able to find parties responding to the call for expression of interest:

  • The findings of the prior study of potential,
  • A proposed Agreement specifying among other things the département’s photovoltaic power generation ambitions, the technical and organizational arrangements for implementing the future agreement and the legal terms and conditions for implementing and terminating it,
  • A primary energy consumption model to be submitted by the applicants along with their proposal, to facilitate an analysis of the latter.

 

The conditions for assessing the applications for the call for expressions of interest were presented to the applicant then the selection was made on the basis of their technical, financial and organizational proposals, the qualities of the new consortia and their proposals with regard to the proposed Agreement.

ITHERM CONSEIL and PINTAT AVOCATS conducted an in-depth analysis of the proposal of the six consortia who submitted their applications, and presented the analysis to the steering committee comprising the CD37’s teams and elected representatives. We thus:

  • attended the meetings with each applicant,
  • attended the steering committee meetings,
  • provided material for the presentations,
  • drafted review reports.

 

ITHERM CONSEIL in particular assisted the CD37 with all the technical, financial and strategic questions involved in selecting the applicant, while PARMES AVOCATS focused on the legal set-up of the contract.

At the end of the process, only one of the consortia was selected; ITHERM CONSEIL and PINTAT AVOCATS then proceeded to finalize the Agreement with the selected consortium (in meetings with the consortium, providing assistance in drafting the deliberation, reviewing the appendices to the contract).

Results

The Temporary Occupancy Agreement in the public domain for installing photovoltaic facilities will enable the département to:

  • generate photovoltaic electricity meeting at least 50% of the secondary schools’ power demand;
  • add value to the roofs with this equipment;
  • engage in a virtuous circle contributing to local awareness of energy and climate issues

 

The Agreement is concluded for the next 30 years, with an undertaking from the selected applicant to make rental payments. The photovoltaic facilities will be operated by the operator for the duration of the contract; the economic model allows for all the generated electricity to be sold; and the operator bears the entire cost of the investment, operation, and end of life of the facilities.

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