More than 500 kilometers of copper cables have been stolen from 13 photovoltaic parks in the Southwest, in Gironde and in five neighboring departments.
These men, acting as an organized gang, methodically cut this summer the cables placed under the solar panels, those that connect the modules to one another.
Solar parks have become prime targets. Across hectares of installations, continuous surveillance remains difficult despite the presence of cameras.
In Saint-Germain-d’Esteuil, in Gironde, the photovoltaic plant finds itself at the heart of this vast looting.
The thefts have caused long interruptions in the electricity production of the affected plants.
After the journey, the sheaths are burned fairly quickly in order to recover the metal.
The motive is, once again, the lure of profit. The world price of copper has doubled in five years.
Round-the-clock monitoring of the sites is not provided, which leaves the perpetrators room to cut and carry off the cables.
Since the beginning of the year, the gendarmes of Nouvelle-Aquitaine have recorded more than 400 copper thefts, a record.
It now stands at nearly 13,000 euros per tonne, and continues to soar.