www.stadiaworld.com SPORTS VENUES 2023/24 | 39 OPERATION STADIAWORLD: Nowadays, stadium operators must have sustainability and environmental protection on their agenda. How does the French sports facility landscape view this issue – and how is Groupama Stadium in particular positioning itself? Pierrot: We are currently developing a photovoltaic system on our parking lots and the roof of our training center. Today, we produce up to 10 GWh per year. Once the project is fully activated, the solar power plant will cover an area of 50,000 square meters – the entire parking lots, the roof of the training center and the roof of the future LDLC Arena. It is probably the largest power plant on sports facilities in Europe and will generate up to 12 GWh per year. This low-carbon electricity will be used both to power the stadium on event days and to feed the local grid. As a next step, we are considering installing energy storage batteries, but the technology is not yet efficient enough. We are also thinking about additional plants that suit our weather conditions. We are in a very windy region – and small wind turbines on the roofs could provide additional energy ... STADIAWORLD: How are you staffed with regard to these topics? Pierrot: OL Groupe, the company that owns the stadium, has a sustainability department and so we are working on a number of innovative topics. Energy is one of them. We have also installed a rainwater collection system that is used for the turf. We are also working on waste collection and recycling with a dedicated sorting area inside the stadium. On event days, we collect unsold food and give it to local food charities. The restaurant for our employees has a permaculture garden that provides vegetables and creates compost with food waste. We have 12 beehives in the lower part of the stadium that produced a total of 232 kg of honey in 2022. STADIAWORLD: Sustainability is certainly also on the agenda for major events such as the Olympic Games. The Groupama Stadium in Lyon is currently preparing for the 2024 Games. How is it going? Pierrot: We already have regular meetings with the staff of the organisers of the Paris 2024 Games. Tony Estanguet, the president of the organising committee, visited the stadium in January. Groupama Stadium will host both the men’s and women’s games. It will be the stadium with the most matches outside Paris – eleven in total, including a women’s semifinal. Huge photovoltaic system near the Groupama Stadium. Picture: Populous/Intens-cité/Gagnepark Xavier Pierrot “A number of innovative topics” In this interview, Xavier Pierrot, Deputy General Director responsible for the Groupama Stadium and the LDLC Arena, talks about sustainable venue operations, the strategy in Lyon – and the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games. Picture: OL Concerts are also held in the multifunctional stadium (here Coldplay). Picture: OL/S. Guiochon
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