PVTIME – Ecolab has earmarked a total of €100 million for two significant industrial projects in France. Part of this funding will finance a large-scale photovoltaic manufacturing scheme developed by the French start-up company HoloSolis.
Picture: HoloSolis
Aside from HoloSolis’s solar initiative in north-eastern France, the funding will also cover the development of a green ironmaking plant in southern France, undertaken by GravitHy. The proposed 5GW production site will specialise in solar cells and modules and is set to begin operations in 2028, reaching an annual peak output of 1,000 modules. Having secured multi-source public and private financing, HoloSolis obtained technology licensing from China’s Trina Solar the previous year to manufacture local modules using TOPCon cell techniques.
Ecolab’s chair and chief executive, Christophe Beck, recognised these dual investments as a core driver of European industrial upgrading. He believes that sound economic performance and sustainable development are the two cornerstones of resilient, forward-looking industries, rather than conflicting objectives.
This investment brings valuable optimism to Europe’s beleaguered PV manufacturing sector, which has suffered from fierce competition from China and India’s rising manufacturing industries. However, the sector continues to face significant challenges, with French company Carbon suspending its integrated PV factory project due to unclear regulatory policies issued by the EU and its member states.
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