Industrialists have been waiting for it impatiently. Last week, four major programs as part of the ecological and energy transition received the status of “major national interest project”. A concept introduced in October 2023 by the green industry law, which allows the recognition of their importance in the industrial future of France and opens the way to administrative facilities.
In addition to the Eastman company’s molecular plastic recycling plant in Saint-Jean-de-Folleville and the Gravithy company’s reduced iron ore and hydrogen production plant, the label also rewarded the future Carbon photovoltaic panel mega-plant in Fos-sur-Mer. A major European project that mobilizes an investment of nearly 2 billion euros, aims to produce more than 10 million solar panels per year, and thus intends to respond to China’s domination of this market. Wishful thinking? Nicolas Chandelier, CEO of Carbon, assures us: meeting the challenge is possible, thanks to effective regulation and mass production.
L’Express: Can this new status change the situation in terms of reindustrialization ? Some labels lack efficiency and look more like a communication operation…
Nicolas Chandelier: Of course, it is a question of image and symbol. But this new status does not concern a hundred projects. Only four were selected. This gives them a fairly unique character. Then, the award of the label effectively allows for acceleration on the entire administrative part. It weighs heavily. And it is inherent to all these large-scale projects which, inevitably, can be frightening or represent unusual challenges for administrations. This announcement therefore allows a message to be sent to the entire administrative system so that it facilitates their implementation.
More concretely, this status will allow us to have priority in access to certain services, such as the supply of electricity. In terms of building permits, it also ensures that we have the right level of attention from all the players serving the State. Thanks to this, we should meet our deadlines, namely a start of work in mid-2025 and then a start of activity from the end of 2026.
Today, nearly 80% of photovoltaic panel production is in the hands of China. Some believe that the battle has been lost. Why invest in this segment?
I think that Europe has realized, quite painfully, that it had lacked vision on its energy sovereignty. Its state of mind has changed. The importance of this notion has been well integrated into the policy of the European Union, whether it is the question of access to energy, or its price. We know that this will constitute the basis of the competitiveness of all other sectors. However, solar energy is the one that will be the least expensive to produce in the years to come (half as much as nuclear energy). And its implementation is extremely simple. Of course, electricity production capacities will have to increase very significantly and we must do so with all available resources. But in this equation, the place of photovoltaics will be very important.
This is why it is essential for France to regain control of the production of solar panels. If we do not have the capacity to produce them at home, we will only be shifting the problem of energy dependence. Energy sovereignty requires the development of an industrial sector.
According to the International Energy Agency, Chinese production costs, across the entire photovoltaic chain, are 20% lower than in the United States, and 35% lower than in Europe… How can manufacturers from the Old Continent make a place for themselves in these conditions?
The Carbon project is part of a logic of reindustrialization confirmed by the texts. The European directive “Net zero Industry Act” requires each State to produce 40% of the clean technologies used in Europe by 2030, it is a framework that should allow the emergence of a sovereign industrial sector. In 2030, the consumption of solar panels in Europe is estimated at approximately 100 gigawatts, but today European capacities are less than 5 gigawatts of annual production… This means that there is room for improvement, but also a market for us. In any case, Europe will depend on external production because production capacities cannot keep up with the evolution of demand in the years to come. But this should not necessarily keep us at a distance from the objective of sovereignty.
How can we protect our industry and maintain a share of foreign imports? Do you think that customs barriers should be imposed on solar panels, as This is considered for cars of Chinese origin ?
Introducing a 40% customs duty from the outset and blindly seems complicated to me. We need to create a European sector, but we also need to allow Asian players or those of other nationalities to continue to supply so as not to slow down the energy transition. The goal is therefore not to “kick the Chinese out”. However, no project will survive without work by the regulator. Are customs duties the best answer? Should 40% of the market share be devoted to panel installations for individuals? Should certain aid be made conditional or distributed in proportion to the European content of the equipment? Several options are on the table.
The cost of labor, the subsidies granted by China to its industry and the evolution of the carbon market price in Europe raise questions of competitiveness. How can we safeguard it?
When we look closely at the cost structure, we realize that direct labor represents less than 10%. Furthermore, the manufacture of photovoltaic panels requires a fairly qualified workforce, so Chinese players do not have a structural advantage in this area. Finally, we have experience in industrial intelligence, product knowledge, research (in Germany and France, particularly with the CEA). What we lack today is the massification of production. This is the only possible model, because there are fixed costs that can only be amortized by volume. This massification is automation and digitalization. It remains possible! Other industries have done it in Europe and France. STM, for example, has gone through these stages in electronics and has demonstrated competitiveness.
The second aspect is the verticalization of the industrial process. This means integrating all the stages of manufacturing solar panels, otherwise we will not be able to be sovereign. This is why we have decided to be present at all stages: we manufacture the “waffer” – the basic component used in the manufacture of computer chips and solar cells -, the cells and finally the final module. If we are not present at the first stage, we will have to buy “waffers” in China, which dominates 97% of global production. In the long term, we are aiming for a price that would not be more than 10% more expensive than those charged by Chinese players.
L’political instability observed in France, and the slowdown in climate ambition at the European Union level, could they weigh on your activity?
What I can say is that no one is against the development of photovoltaics in France, quite the contrary. All political parties have expressed themselves in favor of French and European industrialization. So I would say that we could not be in a more favorable environment in relation to the issues we are dealing with. At the European Union level, our project is governed by regulations, now it is only a matter of implementation.
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