France launches ambitious, €1.5B solar plan

France plans to blanket the country in solar energy plants.

The country launched the bidding process on May 15 for the 300-megawatt project, composed of solar plants in each region, according to the Associated Press.

Jean-Louis Borloo, the French minister of ecology, wants the plants to be built by 2011, for a total investment of €1.5 billion ($2.03 billion). The solar plants would more than quadruple France's current installed capacity of 69 MW of solar, including 46 MW added last year (see Spain leads 2008 solar market). The majority of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power.

In 2007, Borloo committed to expanding solar energy under a program that aims to pioneer green technology to reduce carbon emissions. Part of the new plan calls for simplification of the administrative steps to open a solar energy plant.

France is ranked fourth in Europe in terms of total solar energy produced, behind Germany, Spain and Italy. French solar plants are currently mainly concentrated near the country’s southern coast and its overseas territories.

France is among a handful of countries that established favorable policies expected to accelerate PV deployment, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association.

France’s energy companies—including Total (NYSE:TOT), GDF-Suez (EPA:GSZ) and Electricite de France—are all investing in solar energy.

Total has invested $45 million in Lowell, Mass.-based solar company Konarka Technologies as part of a research-and-development partnership. Konarka developed a flexible, thin-film plastic that converts light to energy (see Total grows solar push with $45M funding to Konarka).

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