Energy roadmap: the renewable energy sector reassured but vigilant

"It is important that Sebastien Lecornu has confirmed that there will indeed be a multi-year energy program over 10 years, until 2035" in the form of a decree "which will not put solar and wind power under the rug," Jules Nyssen, president of this organization which brings together the solar, wind and other renewable energy industries, told AFP.

The sector has expressed its fears in recent months that this legislation, awaited for nearly three years, could halt the development of renewable energy. Having met with officials at Matignon on Friday, they left with assurances that there would be "no moratorium" on these energy sources.

"There will indeed be calls for tenders" to develop solar and wind power," Jules Nyssen said on Sunday, which will allow the development of the industrial sectors of these sectors and the electrification of the country essential to reduce its CO2 emissions.

But the re-engining of onshore wind turbines, favoured by Sébastien Lecornu in his interview with the regional press, "will not be enough to achieve electrification objectives", Mr. Nyssen said.

"We must not exclude wind farms in good understanding with elected officials and territories," he said, also calling for a "review of the air ceilings" for civil and military aviation which are blocking the development of larger, more powerful wind turbines.

The PPE, which will set production targets by energy type by 2030 and by 2035, has been delayed multiple times due to intense political divisions over the sharing between nuclear and renewable energies.

Representatives of the renewable energy sector feared that the development volumes planned in the roadmap for their respective sectors would not allow them to maintain their industrial capacity.

For solar power, for example, "there are already 30 GW of installed capacity in France, and 10 GW of authorized projects in the queue. If the roadmap indicated a production target of 40 GW in 2030, this would amount to a moratorium because there would then be no possibility of development," Mr. Nyssen stressed.

However, two planned photovoltaic gigafactory projects in France: Holosolis in Moselle and Carbon in Fos-sur-Mer, represent a theoretical potential of 5.000 additional jobs,” he argued.

Wind and solar power represent "between 80.000 and 120.000 direct jobs" in France, he added.

France Renouvelables, which represents 370 players in the sector, estimated on Thursday that an energy trajectory marked by a decline in renewables compared to current forecasts could lead to "the destruction of 30.000 to more than 40.000 jobs" depending on the scenarios considered.

On Tuesday, two demonstrations by employees from these sectors are planned in Montpellier, and in Paris in front of the National Assembly, to express their fears and "denounce the increasing number of job cuts" in these sectors.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.