News: Photovoltaics
23 September 2020
First Solar modules chosen for largest urban PV plant in Europe
First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA – which makes thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) as well as providing engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) services – says that JP Energie Environnement (JPee) is using its Series 6 photovoltaic (PV) solar modules to power the 59MWDC Labarde solar power plant.
Believed to be the largest urban solar PV power plant in Europe, the facility is being built on the site of a former open-air municipal landfill in Bordeaux, South West France. The land was designated as a wasteland, unfit for residential or commercial buildings, or agricultural use. However, JPee secured a 35-year lease for the 600,000m2 site and began developing the Labarde solar project, which was selected under successive rounds of the PV tenders organized by France’s Commission de Régulation De L’Énergie (CRE).
Based in Caen, France, JPee has over 15 years of experience developing, financing, constructing and operating renewable energy assets. The firm operates 263MWDC of wind and solar projects, generating enough energy to power 230,000 average homes, making it one of France’s leading independent renewable energy producers.
The Labarde project’s role “goes beyond transforming sunlight into solar electricity and supporting France’s decarbonization goals, as it helps heal a piece of land that has no other practical use,” notes JPee’s chairman Xavier Nass. “While solar is inherently sustainable, this project is powered by the lowest-carbon solar technology and sets new benchmarks for sustainability.”
With over 1100MWs installed, First Solar’s module thin-film technology forms the backbone of France’s solar fleet. The firm’s modules have been deployed across over 400 projects in France, ranging from large-scale ground-mounted plants to commercial and industrial (C&I) projects.
