April 22 (Renewables Now) – ACI Groupe is joining the list of founding shareholders of CARBON, the French industrial start-up with a solar gigafactory plan of up to 20 GW and the ambition to be among the top 10 solar cell makers by 2030.
CARBON announced last week that ACI, which has experience in large-scale industrial projects, will act as “an industrial facilitator” supporting its plan to establish a fully integrated solar gigafactory in France.
“With ACI Groupe at its side, CARBON can rely on the know-how, the financial solidity, but also the agility of a major industrial group which has made French production one of its main commitments,” commented CARBON president and co-founder Pascal Richard.
The start-up aims to reach a capacity of 500 MW by 2024 in a pilot facility, then 5 GW by 2025, and 15 GW to 20 GW from 2030. It will source low-carbon, Europe-made polysilicon for the production of silicon ingots which will be sliced up into wafers, then made into PV cells and assembled into solar modules. The project entails investments in the billions of euros.
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