Urbasolar inaugurates concentrated solar project in France

French solar infrastructure developer Urbasolar has recently announced it has inaugurated France's first concentration solar power plant. The company will be responsible for the design, construction, finance and operation of the solar project, which is located in the Aigaliers commune, the Gard department in southern France.

The project estimated investment is €30 million (US$34.1 million). The project was among the winners of the "CRE 1" national solar power tender.

The plant has 1,400 Fresnel lens solar concentrators installed on site, the remainder consistsing of traditional photovoltaic panels that spread on a surface of 22 hectares. The solar plant's nameplate capacity is of 10.7 MWp.

The plant is expected to cover the electricity needs of 5,800 local households.

France's Soitec supplied the concentrators, France's Sillia VL supplied the photovoltaic modules and French solar tracking equipment maker Exosun delived the trackers for the PV modules.