French energy company ENGIE boasts of solar success

Through subsidiaries, the company said it secured 32 percent of the capacity in a government call for tenders.

French energy company ENGIE declared Tuesday it was setting records in the country by securing hundreds of megawatts of solar projects.

Though its subsidiaries, the company said it won 25 photovoltaic projects in France following a call for tenders from the nation’s energy regulatory commission. Of the 710 megawatts of design capacity awarded, ENGIE secured 32 percent.

“ENGIE thereby confirms its position as solar leader in France with already 1,000 MW of installed capacity,” the company’s statement read.

The leadership claim is its second this year. It boasted in June that it solidified its position at the top of the renewable energy foodchain in France by acquiring producer LANGA group.

By year’s end, the LANGA Group should have 215 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity, with most of that existing as solar energy. Another 1.3 gigawatts of projects could be completed by the group by 2022.

Through the agreement, French renewable energy major ENGIE said it had support for a goal of developing about 3GW of wind and 2.2 GW of solar power by 2021. Last year, 30 percent of the renewable energy added to the French grid came from ENGIE installations.

“With this new record, ENGIE is once again showing its great dynamism and leadership in this fast-growing sector,” Gwenaëlle Huet, the CEO ENGIE France Renewables, said in a statement. “It is through concrete and tangible results that we will be able to respond to the major challenges of the energy transition and thereby contribute to harmonious progress in France.”

France has one of the least carbonized electricity sectors among members of the European Union.

Source: UPI