Stmt re Solar Panel Plant

Total S.A.
7 June 2004

 

Total and Total Energie to Begin Building Solar Panel Production Plant 
in Toulouse

Paris, June 7, 2004 - After preliminary studies and in agreement with all
shareholders, Total Energie has approved the construction of a photovoltaic
solar panel production plant in Saint-Martin-du-Touch, in the Greater Toulouse
area of France. The plant will be owned by Tenesol Technologies, a specially
created, wholly-owned subsidiary of Total Energie.

The approximate €6-million investment is in line with Total's pledge, made when
it announced the closure of the AZF plant, to actively support business in
Toulouse and invest to create jobs in the area, in cooperation with local
stakeholders.

In response to the very strong growth of the photovoltaic solar energy market in
Europe, especially Germany, Total Energie has decided to build a plant with a
capacity of 15 MW, rather than the originally planned 5 MW. The plant is
expected to create around 70 jobs.

The plant's production capacity is equivalent to around 6% of estimated European
production capacity in 2003, and is close to ten times the total capacity of
photovoltaic systems connected to the grid in metropolitan France at end-2003.

Total Energie, owned 35% by Total and 45% by Electricite de France (EDF), has
designed, produced, installed and operated photovoltaic systems for more than 20
years. The new plant will consolidate the company's existing production capacity
in South Africa.

This investment reflects Total's confidence in and support for the development
of this renewable energy, which has significant short, medium and long-term
growth potential.

Total is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world with operations in
more than 130 countries. Total's activities cover the whole energy chain of the
petroleum industry: exploration, oil and gas production, refining and marketing,
trading and power generation. The Group is also a major player in chemicals
through its chemicals branch, Atofina. Total has more than 110,000 employees
worldwide. More information can be found on the company's website: www.total.com


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