Total Inaugurates its 1000th Solar Powered Service Station

Total has inaugurated its 1000th solarised service station, the Palmeraie retail outlet in Marrakech, Morocco, powered by solar panels.

French multinational integrated oil and gas company, Total has inaugurated its 1000th solarised service station, powered by solar panels. The rooftop solar systems at the Palmeraie retail outlet in Marrakech, Morocco, is a milestone in the company’s program to solarise certain of its service stations worldwide, begun in late 2016.

The company’s goal is to solarise 5,000 stations in 57 countries. And has reassured that the work on the project will accelerate in the coming months to reach around 1,000 stations per year. More than a third of its retail network stations worldwide will be equipped with high-efficiency SunPower solar panels.

 “TOTAL service stations around the world are designed as one-stop shops offering customers tailor-made services that are easy to access and use,” said Momar Nguer, president of Total Marketing & Services and member of Total’s Executive Committee.

“The service stations equipped with solar panels are more independent of the grid and showcase our know-how and expertise in renewable energies. Consistent with Total’s ambition to become the responsible energy major, the program will reduce our retail network’s carbon emissions by more than 50,000 tons per year.” 

The firm is also solarising production sites, such as plants and refineries, and office buildings. A number of projects to equip various plants or office buildings with solar panels have been identified, adding up to a nominal power of more than 200 MW-peak, equivalent to the electricity demand of a city of 200,000 people. 

Solarising Total’s service stations is fully aligned with our strategy of generating and supplying distributed renewable electricity adds Julien Pouget, senior vice president, Renewables at Total. 

“We’re proud to inaugurate our thousandth solar-equipped retail outlet. This milestone achievement reflects Total’s commitment to using solar power at our sites and our ability to support our industrial and commercial customers with cleaner, more affordable and safer electricity.”

The newly solarised Palmeraie service station in Marrakech has 134 square meters of photovoltaic (PV) panels. The system will produce 45 megawatt-hours of power per year and reduce the retail outlet’s carbon emissions by 30 tonnes per year.