France’s largest solar manufacturing plant will soon come into existence. Electricite de France and First Solar have joined forces to build the 90 million euro ($128 million) plant. The two companies have not yet made any announcement regarding the location and project’s launching or completion date. It is believed that at the outset the plant would be competent to produce sufficient solar panels to generate more than 100 megawatts of power under peak conditions. The electricity produced is enough to power nearly 20,000 homes.
Electricite de France:
Electricite de France is the chief electricity generation and distribution company in France. To materialize the dream of this solar manufacturing plant the company has brought EDF Energies Nouvelles into the picture to buy the new plant’s entire output for the first 10 years of production. EDF Energies Nouvelles is a renewable energy company, half-owned by the state’s Electricite de France. It raised 500 million euro ($710 million) the preceding year for its progress in the photovoltaic sector from its current activities in biomass, biofuel and biogas.
First Solar:
First Solar is a publicly held U.S. energy company in the solar sector. It manufactures photovoltaic solar modules using a thin film semiconductor process based on CdTe, to produce photovoltaic modules. The company that claims to be the world’s largest manufacture of thin-film solar modules has been bringing down its production costs dramatically.
The companies’ joint venture:
France’s state state-owned utility Electricite de France has collaborated with an American solar panel manufacturer First Solar to construct the largest solar manufacturing plant in France. The joint venture follows the Grenelle Environment initiative from President Nicholas Sarkozy in recent years, in which the government defined critical points of public policy on sustainable development. The state provides incentives for the placement of solar panels on the rooftops of retail, commercial and agricultural buildings, and also plans to oversee the construction of solar energy plants in each of France’s 22 regions.