Engie, Suez partner to develop 1GW solar capacity in France

Engie has partnered with energy recovery solutions provider Suez to develop around 1GW of photovoltaic solar facilities in all recycling and recovery waste storage sites across France.

The facilities, which will be developed on nearly 100 sites operated by Suez, are currently producing biogas which is recovered as energy.

Engie will design, build and operate the solar firms, which are set to produce the amount of energy that is equal to the capacity of a nuclear reactor and will offset 27,500t of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually.

The facilities are expected to help Francemeet its targets in terms of renewable energy development and the fight against climate change.

They are also set to help both Engie and Suez to fulfil their strategies to undertake new projects that focus on the energy transition and the circular economy.

Under the latest partnership, both the companies will first develop a ground mounted 12MW plant at the Drambon storage facility in the Côte-d’Or department in eastern France. The facility is set to be launched within this year.

The companies are also expected to recover hydrogen from recycling and recovery waste storage sites to generate clean energy in future.

Until the end of last year, Engie installed 900MW of solar and 1,800MW wind power capacities in France.

Suez has so far produced 620GWh of biogas from its facilities.

In December last year, Engie signed new agreement with French insurance company Crédit Agricole to allow their joint venture Futures Energies Investissements Holding (FEIH)to purchase about 500MW of on-shore wind and solar power plants by the end of this year.