Our association is committed to protecting the Amognes region (Nièvre, Burgundy, France) from the installation of oversized wind or photovoltaic farms.
The energy transition and the fight against climate change are major challenges. But contrary to what renewable energy companies and their local partners want us to believe, these challenges will not be solved by building giant wind turbines and photovoltaic farms on agricultural land or natural sites, ignoring the risks for wildlife, flora, and public health.
The small rural communities of Anlezy, Billy-Chevannes, Cizely, Saint-Benin d’Azy, and Rouy have already faced two wind farm projects between 2020 and 2021, which our association successfully fought.
We now have to oppose two photovoltaic projects by the company Terapolis, a partner of the British group Telis and the U.S. investment firm Carlyle, in Billy-Chevannes-Cizely and Bona-Jailly, on a scale that would make these projects among the largest solar projects in the Nièvre region.
We have four main reasons to vigorously challenge these projects:
1/ These projects represent a takeover of agricultural land, diverting solar panel installation from artificialized zones: officially, they are supposed to limit the loss of agricultural production via a mobile solar panel technology 5 meters high, but this technology has never been applied, and its sustainability is doubtful, as is the distribution of responsibilities between the promoter, operator, and landowner.
2/ These projects would generate visual and noise pollution, as well as potential health risks: to operate mobile panels reaching 5 meters in height, a large number of motors are needed. Terapolis now acknowledges publicly that each project will require more than 1,500 motors, one motor producing noise at 45 dBa (equivalent to the sound of a passing car). Terapolis also refuses to comment on the consequences of installing high-voltage power lines burried in the middle of some of our villages.
3/ Such a project would lead to a permanent degradation of the natural environment, with no consideration for the landscape or neighboring protected sites. One installation zone has been set on a hill, with an unrealistic plan of 5-meter-high hedges surrounding the park over several kilometers. Site and heritage experts have expressed the strongest reservations about this project since its inception.
4/ Finally, Terapolis’ actions constitute a denial of local democracy: the project was unanimously rejected by the Billy-Chevannes municipal council. The Nièvre Chamber of Agriculture had made the agreement of municipal councils a condition for the development of « agrivoltaic » projects, but Terapolis intends to bypass this rule. In Bona, a clear conflict of interest has appeared as elected officials are also Terapolis’ economic partners. In parallel, Terapolis has constantly refused to disclose what other projects are under consideration in the vicinity of Saint-Benin d’Azy, preventing residents from understanding the cumulative saturation effect of multiple nearby photovoltaic parks.
Our members and supporters come from all backgrounds and nationalities.
Sign our petition.
Write to us: amognes.environnement@gmail.
NEWS IN ENGLISH
2026 Annual General Meeting
A reminder to all our members: the 2026 Annual General Meeting will take place at 12 noon on 16 August at the farm at Dumphlun, Billy-Chevannes (5 allée de Dumphlun). To pay the annual membership fee (€5), please send a cheque to the association or pay online through HelloAsso: 2026 membership and annual fee.
The AGM will be followed at 12.45 pm by a meeting and drinks, open to everyone, to share information about developer Terapolis’s projects within the Amognes Cœur du Nivernais group of municipalities and, more broadly, about “agrivoltaic” projects in the Nièvre.
French original: Assemblée générale 2026
Following CADA’s demand for disclosure, the mayor of Bona releases five documents
Our association has finally obtained documents relating to the designation of renewable energy acceleration zones approved in Bona in 2024. It is surprising that these zones, which are intended to cover all renewable energy projects across the municipality, happen to coincide with the Terapolis project, in which the mayor also has a personal stake.
French original: En réponse à l’injonction de la CADA, le maire de Bona livre 5 documents
CADA calls on the mayor of Bona to disclose documents and emails exchanged with Terapolis
Following the refusal of the mayor, Marc Gauthier, to disclose exchanges between the municipality and developer Terapolis, the association referred the matter to the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA). The Commission issued an opinion in favour of disclosing the administrative documents, letters and emails exchanged about the massive “agrivoltaic” project being planned in Bona.
This particularly worrying situation deserves to be highlighted: the mayor, who has a personal stake in the project, has so far opposed the disclosure of these documents.
French original: La CADA demande au maire de Bona de communiquer les documents et courriels échangés avec Terapolis
Billy-Chevannes municipal council unanimously rejects the Terapolis project (21 July 2025)
Asked for its opinion by the Nièvre Departmental Directorate for Territories, Billy-Chevannes municipal council unanimously rejected developer Terapolis’s project at Le Mont. The council recalled that, like the relevant public bodies (CAUE, UDAP and Atelier de l’aménagement), it has consistently opposed the absurd siting of this project on top of a hill, on cereal-growing farmland, in direct view of several hamlets.
The council gave the following reasons for its rejection:
The municipal council drew on the opinions and/or comments provided by the relevant public bodies (CAUE, UDAP and Atelier de l’aménagement).
These identify recurring adverse effects of the following kinds:
- Visual impacts;
- Noise;
- Adverse effects relating to land;
- Impacts on wildlife;
- Impacts on local biodiversity;
- Impacts on natural habitats — a decline in certain insects and small vertebrates;
- Glare from solar panels;
- Concerns about fire risks;
- Loss of agricultural land.
These opinions and/or comments are consistent with one another.
They provide objective grounds for concluding that the area is not suited to developing this type of energy or accommodating an agrivoltaic project of this size. There are numerous sightlines between the ten hamlets of varying sizes, which lie in hollows or on rolling ground, as well as views from the neighbouring municipality of Frasnay-Reugny.
As presented, the project would damage the landscape and heritage character of the area, affecting not only residents of the nearby hamlets (Criens, Nanteuil, Dumphlun, etc.) but also residents of Cizely, where the installation would occupy elevated ground overlooking the village and close to homes.
Views towards the former medieval motte at Bois-Château (Sainte-Catherine Chapel, the site of an annual pilgrimage) must be protected from intrusive installations that would alter the landscape setting of this historic place.
The almost continuous noise disturbance would be very significant.
Over the months, residents of the municipality have expressed their opposition to such a project.
In conclusion, having deliberated, taking into account all the provisions cited above, all the opinions and/or comments from the public bodies consulted, the views of residents and those of the municipal council, the council unanimously votes against the implementation of the building permits for the sites in Billy-Chevannes and Cizely.
French original: Le conseil municipal de Billy-Chevannes rejette à l’unanimité le projet Terapolis (21 juillet 2025)
The mayor of Bona’s secrecy over his contacts with developer Terapolis
To better understand the background to Terapolis’s agrivoltaic project in Bona (96 hectares), Mr Ciaudo, the association’s lawyer, wrote to the mayor, Marc Gauthier.
As the mayor has a personal stake in these projects, he seemed well placed to explain: (i) the initial contacts, dating back to 2023, with developer Terapolis, which is particularly active within the Cœur de Nivernais group of municipalities; (ii) how the proposed project areas were selected; (iii) how the municipality designated its “renewable energy acceleration zones” in 2024, which happen to coincide with the Terapolis project; and (iv) the preparations for the various information meetings held in 2025.
Unfortunately, the mayor’s response was very brief, consisting of just two documents: an email from Terapolis dated 22 September 2023, thanking the municipality of Bona for hearing its presentation of the project, and a municipal council resolution from June 2025 revisiting the designation of “renewable energy acceleration zones”.
The mayor of Bona asks us to believe that, between 2023 and 2025, there were no email contacts or exchanges of documents of any kind with developer Terapolis.
French original: La grande discrétion du maire de Bona sur ses contacts avec le promoteur Terapolis
2025 Annual General Meeting
A reminder to all our members: the 2025 Annual General Meeting will take place at 4.30 pm on 9 August at the farm at Dumphlun, Billy-Chevannes (7 allée de Dumphlun). To pay the annual membership fee (€5), please send a cheque to the association or pay online through HelloAsso: 2025 membership and annual fee.
The AGM will be followed at 5 pm by a meeting and drinks, open to everyone, to share information about the oversized solar projects that developer Terapolis wants to build in several Amognes municipalities. We will be pleased to welcome representatives of the “Rosa Bonheur” collective, which is opposing the Terapolis project in Beaumont-Sardolles.
French original: Assemblée générale 2025
Terapolis makes unfounded claims at a public meeting, then refuses to answer questions
Developer Terapolis has remained completely silent in response to our requests for clarification about the movable solar panel system planned for Le Mont in Billy-Chevannes and Cizely. Our association has now been waiting three weeks for an answer to a question raised at the public meeting in Billy-Chevannes on 26 September. Terapolis’s representatives challenged the statement that the proposed system had never been tested, citing installations that supposedly already existed in Sicily, Italy. Yet Terapolis has never subsequently confirmed this claim, let alone identified where these Sicilian solar farms are located or the conditions under which they were developed.
#FakeNews #Terapolis #Agrivoltaisme
French original: Quand Terapolis recourt à des informations fantaisistes en réunion publique puis refuse de répondre aux questions
Opposition grows to Terapolis’s solar project in Billy-Chevannes
Thank you to the Journal du Centre for reporting the growing concern about developer Terapolis’s proposed “agrivoltaic” power plant in Billy-Chevannes and Cizely: The agrivoltaic project has its opponents — Billy-Chevannes (58270), lejdc.fr.
There are four main grounds for opposition:
- The appropriation of agricultural land, diverting solar panel installations away from land that has already been developed. Officially, the project is supposed to limit the loss of agricultural production through movable solar panels reaching five metres in height. However, this technology has never been used in France, and its long-term viability is uncertain, as is the division of responsibilities between the developer, the farm operator and the landowner. The current owner-operator has benefited from land consolidation policies intended to support farmers; he should not now establish a rental-income arrangement that would burden future farmers.
- Visual and noise disturbance, as well as possible health risks. Large numbers of motors are needed to operate movable panels reaching five metres in height. Although the developer refused to provide details at the meeting on 26 September, it had previously told some residents that eight to ten motors per hectare would be required, each producing noise at 65 dB — comparable to a passing car. Terapolis also refuses to comment on the implications of burying a high-voltage power line along the RD978, immediately beside homes in the village of Billy-Chevannes.
- Lasting damage to the landscape and natural environment. With no regard for the landscape of the Amognes or the adjoining Natura 2000 area, the installation site has been placed on a hill, with an unrealistic plan for five-metre-high hedges around several kilometres of the park’s perimeter. The Nièvre’s Architecte des Bâtiments de France, the state heritage architect, has issued an unfavourable opinion on the project.
- A denial of local democracy. Billy-Chevannes municipal council unanimously rejected the project. The Nièvre Chamber of Agriculture had made municipal councils’ agreement a condition for developing “agrivoltaic” projects in the department, but Terapolis wants to override this requirement. At the meeting on 26 September, Terapolis also refused to identify other projects under consideration near Billy-Chevannes and Cizely, preventing residents from assessing the cumulative saturation effect of several solar parks located close together.
French original: Projet photovoltaïque Terapolis à Billy-Chevannes : l’opposition grandit
Information meeting on Terapolis’s “agrivoltaic” project in Billy-Chevannes and Cizely (26 September 2024)
Thank you to our members and contacts for coming in large numbers on Thursday 26 September to hear our arguments against the 44-hectare agrivoltaic park proposed by Bordeaux-based developer Terapolis at Le Mont in Billy-Chevannes.
More than forty of you attended our public meeting and joined us in questioning Terapolis’s representatives about the project’s real impact on our area: motor noise, the visual impact of panels mounted five metres high, the unrealistic measures proposed to hide them on a site visible from kilometres away, harm to protected species, the diversion of land from its agricultural purpose, and the capture of energy-related income by a few at the expense of everyone’s quality of life.
We repeat that Billy-Chevannes municipal council has clearly voted AGAINST the Terapolis project. Concerned residents from Cizely, Frasnay, Anlezy and Saint-Benin were also present on Thursday to express their opposition to this power plant, which would also be visible from their homes.
French original: Réunion d’information sur le projet « agri-voltaïque » du promoteur Terapolis à Billy-Chevannes et Cizely (26/09/2024)
2024 Annual General Meeting: the campaign continues
The association held its 2024 Annual General Meeting, providing an opportunity to share all the available information about the various large-scale solar projects being developed by Terapolis in the Amognes. The campaign continues against the disturbance and the destruction of landscapes and natural sites threatened by these oversized projects.
French original: Assemblée générale 2024 : la mobilisation se poursuit !
THE CITY OF ANLEZY SAYS NO TO BAYWA WIND PROJECT
29 mai 2021
Last week the municipal council of Anlezy met to discuss the BayWa r.e. wind power project. In their wisdom, the majority of the elected representatives decided to reject this project.
The vote of the elected officials of Anlezy, carefully considered, sends a strong signal to the wind company that the inhabitants of Les Amognes are not intimidated by their false arguments and promises.
We are very grateful that they voted for the preservation of the environment of Anlezy and the Amognes region.
FRENCH PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR TRANSPARENCY REQUESTS THE MAYOR OF CIZELY TO MAKE HIS EXCHANGES WITH WIND COMPANY BAYWA PUBLIC
9 juin 2019
In an opinion issued on March 25, 2021, the Commission d’Accès aux Documents Administratifs (CADA) gives right to the request for access to the documents exchanged between the mayor of Cizely, Xavier Châtelain, and the wind company BayWa.
CADA recalls that it is not possible for the mayor or the company to hide behind business secrecy in order not to disclose these documents when they contain information relating to emissions into the environment.
The CADA emphasizes that this obligation also applies to the exchanges between BayWa and the mayor of Cizely on his personal email account, whereas our associations have been able to confirm the existence of these exchanges.
The mayor of Cizely, in a situation of conflict of interest, refuses to communicate these documents.
THE MAYOR OF CIZELY REFUSES TO GIVE ACCESS TO THE DOCUMENTS EXCHANGED WITH BAYWA R.E.
9 juin 2019
The mayor of Cizely, Xavier Châtelain, has declined to communicate any of the administrative documents he has exchanged with the windpower company BayWa r.e.
This situation is particularly shocking. The conflict of interest existing in Cizely, where the mayor has a personal interest in the wind project, is a well-known fact.
The transmission of administrative documents is compulsary. The Commission of Access to Administrative Documents has been seized.
WIND POWER PROJECTS IN THE AMOGNES: OPPONENTS ATTACK ON SEVERAL FRONTS
(JOURNAL DU CENTRE, 01/13/2021)
9 juin 2019
Wind power projects in the Amognes: Opponents attack on several fronts
Les Amognes sees two wind energy projects on the horizon. Opponents are getting organized. The mayor of Cizely is particularly targeted in this complex case, for which two lawyers are intervening.
The tone hardens around the wind projects in the Cizely, Billy-Chevannes, Anlezy, Rouy and Saxi-Bourdon area.
While the measuring mast has been installed since last August, and the project leader, Bay War. e, says that « there is nothing new to announce until the wind measurement readings are compiled », the defense associations are getting organized.
This zone seems to be of particular interest to the holders of wind projects. On one side there is BayWa r.e, therefore, and on the other side Soléol; each hoping to be able to install six wind turbines. Previously, another wind company had had to abandon his project.
Soléol would target the Rouy-Saxi-Boudon and Billy-Chevannes zone; BayWa r.e, the communes of Cizely, Billy-Chevannes and Anlezy.
Also, the opponents (Amognes défense environnement and Avenir durable en Nivernais) have hired the services of several lawyers. A petition also collected 7,000 signatures on the Mesopinions site (Save the landscapes, biodiversity and quality of life of the Amognes!).
In September, Mr. Ciaudo filed an appeal with the administrative court of Dijon for « misappropriation of power » by the mayor of Cizely and his family. The issue at stake is the measuring mast that was allegedly installed on a piece of land belonging to the mayor’s family .
« It’s a rather complex case in terms of environmental law, » continues the lawyer, who is contesting the authorization to install the mast. He hopes for a positive decision from the judges by the end of 2021, for dismantling.
The other line of defense for local residents is a request, dated December 8, sent by Echezar’s office to the mayor of Cizely, asking him to communicate all preparatory administrative documents (received at the town hall or on his personal computer) on the project and on the particular interests that could be involved, in application of the rules of the commission for access to administrative documents.
In addition, the law firm should alert the public prosecutor about a possible conflict of interest during the vote, at the Cizely town council, on the implementation of the measuring mast.
The mayor did not wish to answer our questions, referring us to BayWa r.e.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND BAYWA PROJECT: LAWYERS REQUEST FULL DISCLOSURE OF ALL EXCHANGES BETWEEN MAYOR AND BAYWA R.E.
12/22/2020
Text of the letter sent by Me Echezar, Attorney at Law, to the mayor of Cizely (December 8, 2020):
« Mr. Mayor,
I am writing to you in my capacity as counsel of the association Avenir Durable en Nivernais (ADEN), domiciled in Chassy 58270 VILLE-LANGY.
I am hereby sending you a request for the communication of all administrative documents and letters exchanged between the municipality of CIZELY and the company BayWa r.e., which has a wind project on the territory of your municipality.
Pursuant to Articles L. 311-1 et seq. of the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration, I therefore request that you send me as soon as possible all documents, letters and emails that have been exchanged between this company and yourself or any other representative of the municipality.
In particular, I draw your attention to a letter dated March 11, 2020, of which the association ADEN has been informed, by which the representatives of BayWa r.e., Ms. Diane ALESANDRINI and Mr. Kilian ALVAREZ, inform you of the solar/wind hybrid character of the project developed in your municipality, whereas the deliberations of the municipal council, as well as the information brochures of the BayWa r.e. Company, have not so far mentioned a solar dimension of this project.
I would therefore ask you to pay the greatest attention to the communication of documents, letters and e-mails relating to this solar dimension of the activities that the BayWa r.e. Company intends to carry out within the framework of this project which covers the communes of CIZELY, BILLY-CHEVANNES and ANLEZY.
In addition, the association Avenir Durable en Nivernais has been informed of electronic messages concerning the project sent by representatives of BayWa r.e. to your personal address ( » … « ). I would like to remind you that, because of your position as mayor, the e-mails from BayWa r.e. representatives sent to your personal e-mail accounts must also be communicated in application of the above-mentioned articles of the code of relations between the public and the administration. Under no circumstances may they be deleted or altered in application of article L. 322-1 of the Criminal Code.
I would like to inform you that the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA), in a notice dated March 8, 2018 (20175780), recalled the framework of the obligation to disclose these documents, in particular on the basis of the provisions of the CGCT concerning the deliberations and minutes of local authorities, but also of Articles L. 124-1 et seq. of the Environmental Code and, subsidiarily, of Articles L. 311-1 et seq. of the Code on Relations between the Public and the Administration.
In addition, in its opinion of September 10, 2015 (no. 20153118), the CADA considered that: « In this respect, Articles L.124-4 and L.124-5 of this code exhaustively list the cases in which the administrative authority may reject a request for the communication of information relating to the environment, which do not include the preparatory nature of the document or information ».
Finally, in accordance with the CADA notice of May 17, 2018 (20180249), it should be recalled that these communications should preferably be made via electronic downloading platforms.
The ethical rules governing my profession lead me to inform you that you can answer me directly or through your usual counsel.
Please accept, Mr. Mayor, the expression of my consideration. »
(underlining: ADE)
A SOLAR PROJECT BEHIND THE BAYWA WIND PROJECT
12/14/2022
We now discover that the BayWa r.e. wind project is in fact a mixed solar/wind project, a dimension which had never been mentioned in public documents, neither in the BayWa r.e. brochure on the project, nor in the deliberation of the Cizely City Council. This hybrid dimension is however affirmed in this March 2020 letter sent by BayWa r.e. representatives to the mayor of Cizely, which our association got acidentally.
This raises many questions: why this solar dimension was not mentioned? And what were the exchanges between BayWa r.e. and the mayor of Cizely, whose family and professional activities related to solar energy, starting with the operation of a photovoltaic park in Billy-Chevannes, are well-known?
All this adds up to the long list of our questions: why is it the mayor of Cizely who approaches landowners for the developer? why do they consult each other and arrive together at meetings of elected officials? why do they exchange messages on private e-mail accounts? is it normal that the wind measuring mast was installed on a field operated by the mayor, with undeclared preparatory work, and what is the counterpart?
BAYWA PROJECT
CIZELY, BILLY-CHEVANNES, ANLEZY
10/10/2020
BayWa r.e. seeks to install 8 wind turbines of 150-m high on the territory of the municipalities of Cizely, Billy-Chevannes and Anlezy all along an environment-protected « Natura 2000 » site (Bocages, forests and wetlands of the Amognes).
In the past, other wind power companies studied the possibility to install turbines in this wooden area but then gave up because of the high risks for biodiversity and landscape preservation. BayWa r.e. preferred to dismiss similar warnings and go ahead with its industrial project.
By the end of 2019, BayWa r.e. started its contacts with the municipality of Cizely, whose mayor has personal interests in the project. A strong local opposition started once these plans became apparent with the installation of a 104-m high wind-measurement mast in August 2020. The municipality of Billy-Chevannes deliberated against the project in September 2020, and the municipality of Anlezy has suspended any deliberation on this matter.
On several occasions, BayWa r.e. representatives publicly discarded the serious concerns of local residents. This company, a subsidiary of a large German agricultural machinery group, is specialized in developing wind-energy infrastructures which it then sells to third parties.
SOLEOL PROJECT
SAXI-BOURDON, ROUY, BILLY-CHEVANNES
10/10/2020
Soleol presents itself as a design office located in Privas (Ardèche), formerly called « Ecosoleil / Ecovent ».
It is prospecting an area covering the municipalities of Saxi-Bourdon, Rouy and Billy-Chevannes in a hitherto preserved landscape marked by many heritage buildings (XII-century Saint-Antoine Church in Chevannes; Castle of Vesvres; Saint-Germain d’Auxerre Church in Rouy) and home to many protected species (migration corridor).
The installation of a wind-measuring tower, on a small plot of land in the municipality of Rouy, had been announced but has not materialized so far.
The Saxi-Bourdon municipality voted in favor of the project in November 2019 (former municipal team). The municipality of Billy-Chevannes voted against this project in September 2020.
The links between BayWa r.e. and Soleol are not clear. The two teams are in contact and organize meetings together. And local elected officials are sometimes asked by them to support the two projects as whole.
