Neoen starts building 300-MW solar park in France

Nov 5, 2014 - French power producer Neoen said today it had initiated construction of a 300-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant near Bordeaux, which would be Europe’s largest.

The ground-mounted solar park, in Cestas commune, will cost more than EUR 360 million (USD 450m) to build. Neoen noted that it has already obtained the required financing for the project.

The plant will be connected directly to the grid, with completion scheduled for October 2015. When up and running, it will be able to generate over 350 GWh of electricity per year, the company calculates.

A consortium including French groups Eiffage SA (EPA:FGR) and Schneider Electric SA (EPA:SU) will build the plant using modules supplied by Chinese manufacturers Yingli Green Energy Holding (NYSE:YGE), Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL) and Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ).

Neoen’s CEO Xavier Barbaro told Reuters that the solar park will supply electricity at a price of EUR 105 per MWh over a 20-year period.

Paris-based Neoen is majority owned by Impala SAS, the investment vehicle of former Louis Dreyfus chairman Jacques Veyrat. French lender Bpifrance and investment fund Omnes Capital own the rest of the shares. The independent power producer may opt for an initial public offering (IPO) around 2018, Barbaro told Reuters. The goal of the company is have an installed power capacity of over 1 GW by 2017.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.248)

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