By 2026, SNCF Voyageurs – responsible for passenger transport in France and Europe – is targeting 40 to 50% of renewable energies in its train electricity consumption mix, with 20% from energy purchase contracts. To achieve this, SNCF Voyageurs subsidiary SNCF Énergie has signed long-term purchase contracts (PPAs) with French renewable energy operators such as wind power producers Valorem and SOLVEO Énergies. These contracts are for a period of 25 years.

SNCF Énergie’s signing of a 25-year PPA with Valorem on 6 May 2024 will result in the construction of a wind farm in Cheniers (Marne). Comprising 8 wind turbines totalling 36 MW, the Valorem site will supply 93 GWh of electricity to SNCF Voyageurs each year. For our company, the electricity supplied by this new wind farm is equivalent to the annual electricity needed to power the TGV link between Paris and Rennes.

A few months earlier, in December 2023, SNCF Énergie and SOLVEO Énergies announced the signing of a 25-year corporate PPA. Through this long-term commitment, SOLVEO Energies has completed the construction of a wind farm, commissioned in May 2024, in Cher.  The operator will supply SNCF Énergie with 32.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity (the consumption of 6,780 households) annually. For SNCF Voyageurs, production from this new site is equivalent to the annual electrical requirements for the Intercités Bordeaux-Marseille or TER Paris-Le Havre link.

This new PPA also enables our company to make its electricity supply cost less dependent on market price volatility. Ultimately, through this contract, SNCF Voyageurs will avoid emitting 1,400 tonnes of CO₂e each year, i.e. 35,000 tonnes of CO₂ over 25 years.