EDF and First Solar announce plan for France's largest solar plant

The French government's €1.5bn solar energy plan has received a major boost with the announcement that EDF is to partner with US thin film solar cell specialist First Solar to build the country's largest panel manufacturing plant.

The two companies said the new plant, the location for which is expected to be announced in the next few months, would cost €90m (£78m) and have an annual capacity of more than 100MW. The plant will also include a PV panel recycling facility, which is expected to be the only such facility outside Germany.

EDF's renewables division, EDF Energies Nouvelles, said that under the terms of the alliance, it will finance half of the capital expense and start-up costs for the plant, and will have first refusal from the plant's entire output for the first 10 years of its operation.

Pâris Mouratoglou, chairman of the board of EDF Energies Nouvelles, said the deal would provide a major boost for the company's plan to invest an expected €500m in French solar projects over the coming years. "Securing a competitive supply is essential for us to participate in the development of a large French solar market," he said.

French sustainable development minister Jean Louis Borloo welcomed the decision as a major endorsement for the country's recently announced solar strategy. "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," he said.

The news came just days after EDF Energies Nouvelles' US arm, enXco, announced it has signed a power purchase deal with the operator of the Lakefield wind farm in southwestern Minnesota. The company said the 20-year agreement with utility firm Indianapolis Power & Light Company will see it provided with more than 200MW of wind energy capacity from the development when it comes online next year.