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Photovoltaic power plant starts up at Total’s La Mède refinery

| By Mary Bailey

solar power

A new photovoltaic power plant will power a Total refinery in France

SunPower Corp. (www.sunpower.com), a majority-owned subsidiary of Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) announced that an 8-megawatt SunPower Oasis Power Plant was recently completed and is now operating at Total’s La Mède petroleum refinery in Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, France.

“Total Solar is proud of the start-up of its photovoltaic power plant in La Mède. The project was completed in a very short time and in accordance with the strict safety standards specific to a refinery,” said Julien Pouget, senior vice president Renewables at Total. “It demonstrates our willingness to continue to actively help drive the growth of solar power in France through the solarization of industrial sites.”

“SunPower delivers cost-competitive solar energy through innovative, integrated complete solutions such as our Oasis platform,” said Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO. “We commend Total for this forward-thinking, milestone project, and for using high performance SunPower technology to ensure long-term value.”

The SunPower Oasis platform is a fully integrated power plant solution designed to streamline construction, reduce operations and maintenance costs, and maximize value for customers. The high efficiency SunPower E-Series solar panels that are mounted on the Oasis solar trackers at the La Mède facility are said to produce 30% more energy than conventional solar panels in the first year of operation.