Construction has started on what Urbasolar says will be France’s largest rooftop solar installation, as the developer builds a 17.5 MW system on the Delta 3 multimodal logistics platform in northern France.
The project is being developed in the Omega building on the Delta 3 platform in Dourges, in the Hauts-de-France region, near Lille. The logistics hub, run mainly by local authorities, has long planned to integrate rooftop solar and is partly occupied by PepsiCo, which employs around 450 people at the site.
Following a tender concluded in 2024, French independent energy producer Urbasolar was selected to finance, design, supply, build and operate the system under a 30-year lease.
The installation covers 128,568 square meters and is divided into 12 sections of 10,714 square meters each. About 50% of construction has been completed, said Maria Pedicini, France business development director at Urbasolar pv magazine France.
The system will use 28,971 Jinko Solar modules with a power of 465 W, connected to approximately 100 inverters. Once completed, Urbasolar says it will be the largest single-span rooftop solar installation in Europe. For comparison: an 18 MW roof system in Germany is spread over several buildings.
Pedicini said the project is technically complex due to the size of the roof and the need to coordinate multiple works in parallel, requiring detailed planning and phased implementation.
Commissioning is planned for late 2026 or early 2027. The system is expected to generate up to 17 GWh of electricity per year, of which approximately 1 GWh will be consumed on-site in the Omega building. The remaining production will be supplied to the electricity grid and sold under a French Energy Regulation Commission tender awarded to Urbasolar at the end of 2024. The company did not disclose the exercise price.
