Good news in these troubled times… The council of the Aix-Marseille Provence Metropolis adopted this Thursday, June 29, 2024 a report relating to a construction lease with the industrial company Carbon allowing the implementation of the Carbon Lab project on a plot of land of 13.9 hectares, located in the commune of Istres, adjacent to the commune of Miramas.
33 million investments and 200 jobs created
It includes several buildings with an industrial purpose, now disused (wasteland of the former Areva site on the edge of the SNCF sorting network) which will be rehabilitated. The project, which provides for at least 33 million euros excluding tax of investments by Carbon in several phases, ” benefits from the support of the State through the France 2030 program. Ultimately, Carbon Lab will create 200 jobs in mainland France, in addition to the 3,000 at the Fos-sur-Mer gigafactory » specifies the two partners.
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From 2027, this site wants to become a center of innovation and excellence in support of the activities of Carbon’s other sites. The company has placed technological innovation at the heart of its industrial project, planning to devote at least 3% of its annual turnover to it. To this end, the Istres site will host Carbon’s research, development and innovation center, focusing on production processes and photovoltaic products, as well as part of the company’s training activities. It will include technical platforms and operational production equipment to enable these activities, the group announced.
Carbon in Fos: a 1.7 billion euro project
Carbon’s industrial project in Fos-sur-Mer aims to build a giga-factory with 5 GWp annual capacity integrating the heart of the photovoltaic industrial value chain (ingot, wafer, cell, module) to produce solar panels Made in France. This project represents an investment of 1.7 billion euros, not yet financed, and will allow to create 3000 industrial jobs direct jobs as well as 9,000 indirect jobs according to Carbon. This gigafactory will be located in the industrial-port zone on the Caban-Tonkin perimeter on a 45 hectare site. Carbon is supported by France 2030, the South – Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region, the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis and the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille. Carbon announced last May at the Choose France summit the launch of a project called Carbon onea first industrial step which consists of the establishment in France (site which should be unveiled this summer) and the launch in 2025 of a photovoltaic module production unit upstream of the opening of its gigafactory planned for horizon end of 2026 in Fos-sur-Mer.
“A documentation and training center with an international dimension”
In a second time, ” the site will host a solar campus, a true totem and emblematic place, a forum for meeting and exchange, and a nerve center for the entire solar sector and beyond, as well as a documentation and training center for international dimension, open to the educational and economic world. »
Carbon (Fos) recruits Laurent Vergely (ex-Airbus) as director of industrial operations
The investment is welcomed by elected officials, starting with the president of the Metropolis, Martine Vassal, who sees in this project the illustration of the Metropolis’ capacity “to respond in a concrete and effective manner to the needs of businesses.” Satisfaction also for the mayors of the communes concerned, François Bernardini, mayor of Istres and Frédéric Vigouroux who underlines the proximity of the site with the “ Sorting yard, a real industrial tool for rail freight, the passenger station and the city center.”
Useful links :
News industrial projects in Fos-sur-Mer in our news file
The Carbon Project in the Gomet archives‘
