

- Location: Reunion Island
- Installed capacity: 9 MW
- Status: In operation
- Technology: Solar + storage - ground mounted panels & Agrinergie® photovoltaic greenhouses
- CO₂ emission reductions per year: 8 868 tons
- Power supply per year: Equivalent to 4 054 households
- Cultivated species: Permaculture market gardening, horticulture & Beekeeping


In Réunion creole, ‘Bardzour’ means breaking dawn. The Bardzour solar farm is the first of its generation to include lithium ion battery storage with capacity of 9 MWh, a world first for this level of power when it began operations in 2014. This storage helps support the grid, thanks to stable and continuous electricity supply, thus cancelling out the effects of intermittence caused by weather conditions. With total power of 9MWp, the project incorporates 8.4MWp of ground-based panels
located in the no-man’s-land of the Detention Center in the village of Port, in the west of the island, and 0.6MWp installed on 6,000m₂ of Agrinergie® greenhouses. Bardzour has been involved in an ambitious prisoner rehabilitation program: during the construction phase, more than 15,000 hours were dedicated to retraining, giving prisoners nearing the end of their sentences skills in the construction of photovoltaic units.
In Réunion creole, ‘Bardzour’ means breaking dawn. The Bardzour solar farm is the first of its generation to include lithium ion battery storage with capacity of 9 MWh, a world first for this level of power when it began operations in 2014. This storage helps support the grid, thanks to stable and continuous electricity supply, thus cancelling out the effects of intermittence caused by weather conditions. With total power of 9MWp, the project incorporates 8.4MWp of ground-based panels
located in the no-man’s-land of the Detention Center in the village of Port, in the west of the island, and 0.6MWp installed on 6,000m₂ of Agrinergie® greenhouses. Bardzour has been involved in an ambitious prisoner rehabilitation program: during the construction phase, more than 15,000 hours were dedicated to retraining, giving prisoners nearing the end of their sentences skills in the construction of photovoltaic units.
Akuo Energy, World Leader in Solar Power With Storage
stages of the financing round to provide full funding to its four projects that combine photovoltaic systems with storage solutions, for a total installed capacity of 29 MWp in ...
READ MOREAgriterra, Akuo Energy’s agricultural partner, also continues to work with six prisoners on the site, training them in low-input horticulture in the Agrinergie® greenhouses. The produce from the project is sold on the local market, creating a short supply chain. Permaculture techniques are used in certain key parts of the site, complementing the training received by prisoners. Training in beekeeping has also been provided for a dozen detainees, in partnership with Fondation Akuo.
A 2-hectare arboretum of local and indigenous plants completes the set-up of this most unusual project. Bardzour was a prizewinner in the My Positive Impact campaign run by Fondation Nicolas Hulot in 2015.