Smart Energies speeds up the development of its renewable assets portfolio in France and announces the construction of a 24 MW solar ground project in Cestas, close to Bordeaux. Developed by Neoen that will remain minority shareholder in the project, the plant will be directly connected to RTE high voltage line. The project construction amounts to € 28m and will be led by a French consortium composed of Eiffage-Clemessy / Schneider Electric / Krinner - commissioning date is expected for October 2015. The 28 GWh yearly generated by this plant will be equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 15,000 people and eliminate around 11,000 tons of CO2 emissions p.a. This project is part of larger one that includes several other plants for an overall capacity of 300 MW, meaning it will be the largest solar park in Europe.

Vianney de l’Estang, CEO of Smart Energies, said: “We are very pleased to co-invest with Neoen and thus to largely increase our renewable assets portfolio. Thanks to this deal, we have proved our ability to support in equity a partner in the achievement of an impressive project. This investment is our fifth one in solar this year, and is perfectly in line with our strategy. Our pipeline of projects is significant and we keep working on several roofs or ground based solar projects, both in brown or green field.”

ABOUT SMART ENERGIES
SMART ENERGIES is a French group that has been investing in energy technologies and environment for many years. The Group is now focusing its investments in renewable energy production (through the increase of its hydro, solar and biogas assets portfolio) and hydrogen generation through its subsidiary Areva H2Gen. www.smart-energies.eu

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