A consortium led by French infrastructure contractor Eiffage has won a contract to design, build and operate what is intended to become Europe’s largest photovoltaic solar power plant, at a site close to Bordeaux (pictured).
The work will be undertaken by the firm’s Clemessy subsidiary, along with French multinational Schneider Electric and Bavarian engineer Krinner, which will build the foundations. The client is Neoen, a French specialist in renewable energy.
According to Eiffage, the first phase of the project, which will begin immediately and is intended to be completed by October next year, will generate 300MW of electricity.Â
Eventually, the park will be expanded to the point where it is able to supply the entire daytime power consumption of Bordeaux.
This contract won by the consortium is worth $350m, but Le Figaro reported that Neoen’s total investment in the scheme was $450m.
A number of other subsidiaries will be involved in the work: RMT will handle engineering, Eiffage Energia will undertake the connection work and Eiffage Travaux Publics will prepare the site.
The contractor, which does 85% of its work in France, employs about 67,000 people and last year had a turnover of $17.7bn.
