REC Group gets EU grant for solar factory in France

REC Solar has declared the award of a grant from the European Union for the construction of a 2 GW heterojunction (HJT) module factory in France.

India’s Reliance Industries bought REC Solar in 2021. The company held previously that 2 GW per year of HJT modules that will be manufactured by it will have a conversion efficiency hovering between 22.5 per cent and 26 per cent.

Singapore and French divisions of REC and the government of France are supporting ‘The Rise Project.’ It’s one of the 17 projects that will have a share in a fund of €1.8 billion that will come through the EU Innovation Fund.

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The company is yet to disclose the extent of the grant and also the location of the upcoming gigafactory.

The application  indicates that solar panels produced will be 90 per cent bifacial. It will also have G12 wafers. The factory will be renewable energy powered and modules will employ thinner silicon.

REC Solar apprised that its modules will generate electricity 5 to 10 per cent cheaper than the present Mono Perc modules.

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Other Winners

The Innovation Fund is maintained through income that the EU derives from its emissions trading system for industrial carbon allowances.

Grants were made also to other projects that included battery storage plans in France and Poland. Northvolt, based out of Sweden, has also grabbed grants for manufacturing lines for its Voltainer product. It will be produced in Gdansk and Tczew, Poland.

Eramat SA, which delves in mining and metallurgical businesses, will receive a grant for its black mass recycling unit at a battery cluster at Dunkirk, France. Eramat SA has informed that the upcoming plant shall recover the black mass raw material from the used and discarded batteries worth 50,000 tons annually.