EDF Energies Nouvelles (EEN.PA) and First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) announced Thursday a venture to build France’s largest solar panel manufacturing plant at a cost of roughly EUR 90 million.
The plant will produce solar panels made with First Solar’s thin-film photovoltaic technology. It is planned to have an initial annual capacity of more than 100 megawatts (MW) and is expected to reach full production by the second half of 2011.
First Solar will build and operate the plant. EDF Energies Nouvelles has agreed to finance half of the capital expense and plant start-up costs and will benefit from the plant’s entire output for the first 10 years.
First Solar and EDF EN said they will announce their decision on the site location within the next few months.
The French
government recently announced a goal of becoming a leader in sustainable energy technologies
including solar electricity. The country is primarily known for its reliance on nuclear power.
French Sustainable Development Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, said: "I salute the decision of EDF Energies Nouvelles and First Solar to invest and create jobs in France’s solar sector, which has begun to take off since the Grenelle de l’Environnement," he said. "This investment represents a veritable turning point for the photovoltaic industry and confirms that France is more than ever in a position to play a leading role globally."
EDF Energies Nouvelles raised EUR 500 million in 2008 to finance its expansion in the photovoltaic sector. The company set a target of installing 500 MW in photovoltaic capacity by 2012.
Mike Ahearn, Chairman and CEO of First Solar, said, "The decision to invest in France reflects our firm belief in the French market and its great potential. It represents a vote of confidence in the policies being developed by the French government since the Grenelle de l’Environnement to promote renewable energies and allow solar electricity to compete economically with other forms of energy."
First Solar’s manufacturing site will also include a facility for recycling solar panels, France’s first such facility and Europe’s only solar panel recycling plant outside of Germany.
Energies Nouvelles is a 50%-owned subsidiary of the EDF Group (EDF.PA).
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