Total is going to equip its stations with solar panels – The Figaro

About 5000 stations will be equipped with photovoltaic installations enabling them to provide half of their electricity consumption. In France, 800 points of sale are concerned by this project.

The solar strategy of Total is enriched with a brick additional. Five years after the acquisition of the us company SunPower – a recognized expert panels, with technology high-efficiency -, the French company announced on Tuesday that it would equip in a horizon of five years, 5,000 of its service stations with solar panels. All in all, the group has 16,000 stations around the world, including 4000 in France.

The selected stations will be in function of two main criteria: on the one hand, their exposure to a good level of sunlight, on the other hand, the fact that they consume a significant amount of electricity. “This initiative is not tied to any green marketing, on the contrary it is to generate a true economic profit, while placing it at the heart of an environmental approach”, it is argued in the entourage of the group.

Total reflected in this project of equipment of its service stations for a few years already. The group has calculated that the introduction of panels in 5000 points of sale corresponds to a power of about 200 megawatts (MW), equivalent to the electricity consumption of a city of 200,000 inhabitants. The overall investment for this project amounts to approximately $ 300 million. On arrival, once the 5000 stations will be equipped, Total will reduce its CO2 emissions by approximately 100,000 tons per year while reducing its electricity bill of $ 40 million per year.

In France, this will be approximately 800 stations that will be affected by this device, compared to 2500 on the african continent. To note that 30% of the 5,000 stations equipped in term of solar panels will be located in Europe. The announcement of Total made Tuesday, a testament to its roots more and more pronounced in a carbon strategy. This does not mean especially that the group renounces its historical core business – hydrocarbons – but for several months already, Patrick Pouyanné, president of the “major” habs, emphasizes the vocation of the company to become the first major energy responsible. This means first and foremost access to energy reliable, affordable and clean.