Total last week reinforced its position as the fossil industry's biggest backer of solar with a deal to co-develop another 3.3GW in Spain, meaning it has now taken positions in 8GW of potential future PV capacity this year alone, writes Upstream's Anamaria Deduleasa.

The latest deal with local player Ignis followed its entry to Spain, Europe's largest solar market, in a February co-development pact with two other Spanish groups for up to 2GW.

The first Spanish deal was part of an early-2020 burst of activity that made Total among the most active players in solar M&A in the first half of the year.

In India, Total inked a $500m deal with Adani Group to acquire a 50% stake in its 2GW solar portfolio, while in Qatar it signed agreements for the development of the 800MW Al Kharsaah PV project alongside Marubeni.

The French group’s Indian foray could show the way for other oil groups to quickly add renewable capacity in a market that’s aiming to bring huge amounts of new solar plant online to meet stretching 2022 renewable energy goals, said one analyst.

“Entering the Indian solar sector could be the supermajors’ best bet to achieve their renewables targets,” according to Rystad Energy.

“Taking the Total route and entering a joint venture with one of India’s larger renewable energy developers would expand their portfolios of renewable energy projects substantially as well as provide them with a ground team with years of experience in the Indian solar sector.

Total was a mover in solar as early as 2011 when it acquired a majority interest in US PV group SunPower, a deal valued at the time at close to $1.4bn that now looks prescient, according to Tom Heggarty, principal analyst for solar at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

“If you want to move very quickly and grow a business in renewable power, solar is the easiest way to do it as you can develop projects quickly and the technology is applicable in far more geographical locations than wind," Heggarty said.

Earlier in 2020 Total completed a move to spilt SunPower into a US-focused business of residential and commercial solar and storage sales under its existing name, and Singapore-based Maxeon, which took ownership of module manufacturing plants in Malaysia, France, the Philippines and Mexico.

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