French multinational integrated oil & gas firm, Total SA has recently announced that it has bagged multiple solar power generation projects from a government tender in France, which aggregates to a total capacity of 131 megawatts.

Reportedly, the solar energy projects, which holds nearly 20% of the all projects, were awarded by CRE 4, the French energy regulatory commission. Total revealed that these projects would be operated by Quadran, a fully-owned subsidiary of Total that produces and develops green energy in France.

One of the largest projects amongst these awarded tenders would be Valenciennes’ 50 MWp ground-mounted solar plant, becoming Total Quadran’s largest solar plant up till date. Sources cite that it would be installed on the company’s old refinery facility that has since then been redeveloped. Evidently, the solar unit would be able to supply green electricity to almost 32,000 people once it becomes operational by 2022.

Commenting on the move, Thierry Muller, General Manager, Total Quadran, said that the company is proud to be named amongst the nation’s renewable energy leaders, and the results of this tender callout further illustrate the firms’ ability to create competitive, solid bids in an extremely competitive market.

Meanwhile, Total’s initiative to solarize industrial units by improving brownfield plants could play a key role in strengthening its dominance, something that the company intends to carry on, added Muller.

In other news, Total made another splash in the oil & gas sector when it inked an agreement with Tullow, a British oil company, to purchase its entire interests in the oil sector of Uganda, which includes the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

Elaborating on the details of the deal, Total revealed that it would pay $575 million to buy Tullow's entire shares, which constitutes for 33.3% in Uganda's oil sector. Total said that it is planning to make an initial payment of $500 million at closing followed by a payment of $75 million when the partners come to a Final Investment Decision to commence Uganda's oil project.

Source Credit: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/total-wins-solar-power-projects-173027296.html