Hambach. HoloSolis: The State is banking on the solar gigafactory made in Moselle

The future HoloSolis photovoltaic cell factory, located in Hambach (Moselle), has just reached a new decisive milestone. This major industrial project is among the nine winners of the seventh "First Factories" call for projects, launched as part of the France 2030 investment plan. The government confirmed on Wednesday that a total of €49 million would be distributed among these initiatives, without detailing the amount allocated to each site.

The objective: to relocate a key sector in the energy transition, still largely dominated by Asian imports. Bertrand Lecacheux, chief executive officer of HoloSolis, confirms €10.4 million in aid. "Part of it is in the form of grants and another in the form of a repayable advance," explains the president. He notes: "This demonstrates the government's interest in this sector and the quality of our project. Current international political developments demonstrate the value of being independent in this area."

What will this new financial boost be used for? "A project like this, with a total cost of €850 million, is built in stages. This sum is part of Series A, that is, the fundraising that serves to finance all the studies and various technical analyses, but also prepayments that we owe, for example, to RTE for the installation of the very high voltage line that will arrive on the site. Series B will begin when the plant is built," explains this captain of industry who hopes to break ground in the second quarter of 2026 and see the first lines producing in 2027. Regarding hiring, he confides: "The first hires, engineers and technicians, will take place in 2026, then there will be more significant recruitment in 2027 with 600 people, the same number in 2028, then in 2029 to reach 2,000 employees on the site."

Announced with great fanfare at the Choose France 2023 summit, the HoloSolis gigafactory aims to produce photovoltaic cells and modules each year capable of powering the equivalent of one million homes. The ambition is twofold: to meet the growing demand for solar energy in Europe and to reduce dependence on Asian imports in this strategic sector. Led by a European consortium, Holosolis embodies green reindustrialization. Its main shareholder, InnoEnergy—an accelerator supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology—has brought together partners committed to the energy transition: the real estate group Idec, Armor Group (a Breton industry), TSE (an agrivoltaic specialist), and the German company Heraeus.