China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), the country's biggest nuclear power reactor operator, has drawn up plans to become the largest solar energy distributor in France, China Daily reported.
According to the report, CGN will enter the French solar power sector through its subsidiary CGN Europe Energy, and partner with French solar energy company Inovia Concept Development. In the next few years, the company will build distributed solar energy generators across France.
ICD chief executive Johnny Schlomacher said that CGN's French partner will be responsible for the construction and maintenance of the solar power facilities.
Schlomacher said that CGN got the project although it faced stiff competition from a German company.
"The cooperation has a significant meaning to Chinese enterprises and is also a milestone for the China-France renewable energy partnership," Lu Wei, general manager of CGNEE, said, adding that it will enable CGN to build power stations that will have installed capacity of 500 megawatts of solar energy in the next few years, as well as provide as many as 3,000 direct and indirect jobs in France.
In the last 30 years, CGN has established strong ties with French companies for energy cooperation, especially nuclear power plants, Lu said.
"Our new goal is to make CGN a world-class energy group by developing both renewable energy and nuclear power, and proactively participate in international competition," Lu added.
Lu pointed out that CGN is a good example of China's state-owned companies competing in the French market. He added that the company has already worked with French companies to develop the third-party market, such as in Africa.
The partnership is recognized as the first clean energy project that CGN has participated in Europe.
In 2014, CGN's French unit signed a deal for an 80-percent stake in three wind farms in Eastern England owned by French electric utility company Electricite de France SA. The deal is expected to generate 72 mW of power.
In February, the unit also won the bid for the Fujin Onshore Wind Power Project in France and sealed an equity transfer deal with Eolfi, a new-energy company from France.