Fos-sur-Mer will host a giga-factory of photovoltaic products

This first factory of the Lyon start-up, created in March 2022, intends to produce and market on a large scale the components used in the manufacture of solar panels (silicon wafers and photovoltaic cells) as well as the latter (i.e. photovoltaic modules).

The polysilicon needed to manufacture the cells, which is 80% produced by China, will be imported from Europe.

It is the "French answer" to the question of "how to get out of dependence on China on solar panels, and tomorrow on India and the United States", estimated the president of Carbon, Pierre-Emmanuel Martin, recalling that currently 70% of the market was dominated by six Chinese players.

However, "solar is a booming market", especially in Europe, and will constitute "one of the essential bricks of the future of global energy", according to him.

The industrial facilities of the future site, whose exact location within the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) has not yet been decided, will occupy 60 hectares and will produce 5 GW of photovoltaic cells and 3,5 GW of mods.

All this with an investment budget of 1,5 billion euros, of which 120 to 140 million euros are currently being raised. The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region will participate to the tune of 70 million euros, indicated its president, Renaud Muselier.

"This manufacture of photovoltaic panels, which goes from the ingot (of silicon) to the module, is a global integrated process which does not exist today in Europe", underlined Christophe Castaner, the chairman of the supervisory board of the port, seeing it as a "tool for reclaiming national and European sovereignty".

This fully electric plant also aims "to find its place in a global decarbonization policy" as carried out by the port of Marseille-Fos, he added.

The latter was in particular preferred to a site in Hauts-de-France and another in the Grand Est, because of its maritime, river, rail and road connections, but also an attractive employment area benefiting from of an important training offer.

"With 30.000 containers per year of flow" generated by the future factory, "for the port, these are particularly important employment and business prospects", rejoiced Mr. Castaner, recalling that up to 3.500 jobs direct could be created.

The proximity of the Mediterranean also played a role, according to Mr. Martin: "North Africa, Greece, Italy, Spain, these are extremely dynamic markets where solar energy will be the essential component of the energy future ".