Rians - Ombrea

"The grapes are ripening like they used to. The vines are finishing their cycle quite normally, with no heat stroke either on the leaves or on the bunches." - Gauthier Hugues, farmer

Carried out in collaboration with Société du Canal de Provence, this project is our first demonstrator on vines, and more specifically on one of the most widely planted grape varieties: Grenache. This grape variety is heavily affected by decline problems on a national scale, so the aim of climate protection is to perpetuate this emblematic crop of Provence while maintaining the yield and quality of the wine produced.

A new, more vigorous control zone, located 300 metres to the north, has been selected from 2023 onwards. This will serve as a comparison, with vines of the same age and grape variety as those under dynamic shading.

RIANS (83)

Crops: vines (grenache)
Crop management: conventional
Technology: translational shade
Power: 84 kWp
Surface area: 0.15 ha
Design: 8 rows facing south
Control area: 300m to the north-west, approx. 600m²
In service since: 2020

The results obtained from this demonstrator on a wine-growing vine, an emblematic variety of the Provence region, confirm our hypotheses on vine-related climate protection.

Pierre-Antoine Chuste, Head of Ombrea's R&D department

The benefits of the agrivoltaic solution

Ensuring access to light during key phases of development

Reducing frost related risks

Guaranting an adequate time course of the maturation process

Protecting the vine from thermal, hydric and oxidative stress

Guaranting cold accumulation

Ensuring the good progress of the carbon and nitrogen reserve

Agronomic results

Yield

Higher yields under shade in number of clusters, cluster weight and weight per vine

Quality

At equivalent TAV: more acidity under shade (pronounced effect on malic acid)

Harvest

Harvesting under shade is delayed by 5 to 9 days and the date of the first harvest is brought forward by one year for the protected plot.

Weather conditions

Air temperature

51% reduction in hours with temperatures above 35°C.

Soil temperature

Systematically lower under controlled shading

Sunshine

66% reduction in periods of sunlight that can damage crops

Water stress

32% reduction in periods of atmospheric water stress

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