“The story ends here, but our convictions remain.” With these words, the founders of French startup Carbon announced the abandonment of their gigafactory project.
Designated a “Project of Major National Interest” (PINM), the module gigafactory embodied France’s ambition to reshore part of the photovoltaic value chain, from solar cells to finished modules. Located in Fos-sur-Mer, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of southern France, the manufacturing facility was planned for an annual capacity of 5 GW, representing an estimated €1.5 billion ($1.74 billion) investment.
“This ambition hinged on the construction of a factory with a big industrial scale, an indispensable prerequisite for achieving globally competitive cost levels,” the founders stated in a press release. However, such a project also presupposed the existence of a protected European market, backed by EU member states, to support the industrial ramp-up phase and absorb the additional costs associated with the initial start-up period.
According to the founders, the European regulatory framework never provided this level of predictability.
“The objective of the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), adopted in June 2024, was limited to diversifying supply chains without establishing any preferential treatment for European-made products,” the statement reads.
The founders further argue that the Industry Acceleration Act of March 2026 expands the scope of Made in Europe to include all countries with free trade agreements with the EU, potentially including Turkey, Vietnam, and India, while delaying the introduction of a European preference until 2030.
As a result, they said, “there is currently no visibility regarding the emergence of such a market—neither its timeline, scope, nor rules.” Yet investors required clear regulatory guarantees to finance the project.
Before reaching this impasse, the project developers had attempted to adjust their strategy: first by considering a smaller facility assembling photovoltaic modules using cells imported from China, and later by exploring industrial partnerships, including with Chinese manufacturer Longi. These efforts, however, proved insufficient to save the Carbon project.
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