Total
and Total Energie to begin building solar panel production
plant in Toulouse
Posted: 07 June 2004
After preliminary studies and in agreement with all shareholders,
Total Energie has approved the construction of a photovoltaic solar
panel production plant in Saint-Martin-du-Touch, in the Greater
Toulouse area of France. The plant will be owned by Tenesol Technologies,
a specially created, wholly-owned subsidiary of Total Energie.
The approximate €6-million investment is in line with Total's
pledge, made when it announced the closure of the AZF plant, to
actively support business in Toulouse and invest to create jobs
in the area, in cooperation with local stakeholders.
In response to the very strong growth of the photovoltaic solar
energy market in Europe, especially Germany, Total Energie has
decided to build a plant with a capacity of 15 MW, rather than
the originally planned 5 MW. The plant is expected to create around
70 jobs.
The plant's production capacity is equivalent to around 6 per
cent of estimated European production capacity in 2003, and is
close to
ten times the total capacity of photovoltaic systems connected
to the grid in metropolitan France at end-2003.
Total Energie, owned
35 per
cent by Total and 45 per
cent by Electricité de
France (EDF), has designed, produced, installed and operated photovoltaic
systems for more than 20 years.
The new plant will consolidate
the company's existing production capacity in South Africa.
This investment reflects Total's confidence in and support for
the development of this renewable energy, which has significant
short, medium and long-term growth potential.
For more information see www.total.com 
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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