A consortium comprising Eiffage, acting through its Clemessy subsidiary (consortium leader), Schneider Electric and Krinner has been awarded a contract for the construction of a solar farm and an extra-high voltage substation - representing the largest photovoltaic power project in Europe - in Cestas, near Bordeaux, France. The consortium will also be responsible for the plant's operation and maintenance.

Work on this project, worth nearly euro 285 million, is to begin immediately.

The project will call on the expertise of Clemessy subsidiary RMT for engineering studies, Eiffage Energia for connection work, Eiffage Travaux Publics for earthworks, Schneider Electric for the electrical conversion chain and Krinner GmbH for screw-in foundations and photovoltaic structures.

This project, developed by Neoen, a leading French player in renewable energies, will provide a total peak capacity of 300 MW.

The farm will be connected directly to the very-high voltage power grid and is to come on line in October 2015. It will generate more than 350 gigawatt-hours a year, enough to cater for the daytime power consumption of the entire population of Bordeaux.

Eiffage
This new contract (worth euro 285 million) testifies to Eiffage's successful breakthrough in the field of turnkey energy management.

Through its Clemessy subsidiary, Eiffage also secured - as part of a consortium - a contract worth more than euro 500 million in September 2014 for the supply, installation and operational maintenance of backup diesel emergency generators for all 900 and 1,450 MW nuclear power plants in France, representing a total of 38 plant units.

Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric, with its strong expertise in solar, will bring a complete solution for the management, control and supervision of energy produced in this plant.

This solution covers the complete electrical conversion chain, managing energy from the solar panels to the high voltage network. Schneider Electric also supplies services for the complete solution, with guarantees on the equipment availability rate for 20 years.

Krinner
Developing quality solutions from innovative ideas is one of the secrets of the success of Krinner's ground screws and photovoltaic structures.

Growing interest in innovative screw-in foundations, especially in the field of renewable energies, has given Krinner an ideal opportunity to promote its specialised know-how.