French energy giant Engie says it installed 630 MW of new solar generation capacity last year “in a difficult global pandemic context.”

The power company, in which the French state has the largest individual shareholding, said solar made up 21% of the 3 GW of new renewables generation capacity it installed in 2020.

With Engie acquiring an additional 1.7 GW of operating hydro capacity in Portugal and 300 MW of wind farms in France and Italy, the 5 GW of clean power capacity added in 2020 took the company's total renewables portfolio to 31 GW. In a press release issued in January to announce last year's figures, Engie said it had a total power generation capacity of 101 GW. The business also operates gas, nuclear and petroleum assets.

Engie said it secured 1.5 GW of clean energy power purchase agreements in 2020 and added, the majority of its newly-commissioned renewables generation capacity – 1.8 GW – was added in North America. Europe accounted for 900 MW of the remaining 1.2 GW.

The company said it is on track with the ambition announced in 2019, to add 9 GW of renewables capacity by the end of this year.

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