Consolidation in the French solar module industry

From pv magazine France

Systovi and Voltec Solar said this week that they have started talking to each other about combining their solar panel production expertise to create a bigger player in the French PV module manufacturing industry.

The two French companies plan to launch their so-called Belenos project next year, with a business volume target of around €250 million within five years. They said their alliance could create several hundred direct jobs.

Voltec Solar, based in France's Bas-Rhin region, has an annual PV module production capacity of 200 MW at its factory in Alsace. It was established in 2009 and 100%-owned by the Strub Group. It currently has 120 employees, with a turnover of €30 million ($34.2 million) in 2019 and a target of €50 million for this year.

Voltec Solar is banking in particular on its ecodesign strategy, under which it aims to manufacture solar modules with a low environmental impact. In France, it has decided to prioritize projects with solar modules produced via low-carbon manufacturing processes in its public tenders for utility-scale rooftop and ground-mounted PV plants.

Systovi, based in France's Pays de la Loire region, has been active in the residential PV market for several years. It has differentiated itself from its competitors by developing its own solar solutions.

“The objective set by the PPE (France's multiannual energy strategy) is to increase installed solar capacity from 10 GW currently to 44 GW by 2028, which represents 4 GW installed per year,” said François Guérin, director general of CETIH. “It is therefore urgent to create a French leader in photovoltaics which would significantly contribute to this environmental challenge.”