Moratorium on wind and solar power: industry professionals stand up against a legislative "monster"

All are calling on the deputies, who are due to vote on the entire bill in its first reading on Tuesday, to reject the text as it emerged after its examination on Thursday, including an immediate moratorium on all new wind and photovoltaic installations initiated by the right, with the support of the far right, voted in a sparsely populated chamber.

"The text as it emerged from the review phase in the National Assembly yesterday no longer makes any sense," lamented Jules Nyssen, president of the Renewable Energy Union (SER). "It puts tens of thousands of jobs at risk and sacrifices our energy future beyond the next 10 years."

The union, which has more than 500 members, denounces a "text of energy irresponsibility" which "threatens to wipe out with a stroke of the pen the 160.000 people who currently work in the renewable energy sector in France."

The so-called Gremillet bill, which came from the Senate, "was balanced and coherent," said Enerplan, the union of solar energy professionals.

"During its examination, the National Assembly completely destroyed this balance and this coherence" and turned it into "a legislative 'monster' which, for ideological reasons and political considerations, seriously undermines France's long-term interests."

"A disastrous signal"

On Thursday evening, France renouvelables, which represents 360 professionals in the sector, denounced an amendment representing "one of the largest redundancy plans decided upon in the Assembly," voted on "in a sparsely populated chamber" and "in a context where the elements voted on sometimes border on the absurd, such as the reopening of Fessenheim," the nuclear power plant closed in 2020.

The same story is echoed by the Photovoltaic Trades Group of the French Building Federation (GMPV-FFB), for whom the arguments of the supporters of this moratorium are based "on a series of untruths."

"Despite months of consultation between the photovoltaic industry and government departments to adapt market conditions to current budgetary constraints, parliamentary groups are seeking to impose a brutal and incomprehensible moratorium on solar photovoltaics with immediate effect," he wrote.

"How can France's energy policy be planned on the basis of amendments passed on the sly, aimed at destroying a sector that has been patiently built up for 15 years now?" he protests.

The Climate Action Network, for its part, described the conditions under which the text was examined as "appalling," deploring an Assembly "empty from the center to the left" and pointing out the "heavy responsibility" of the government, which "gave in to pressure from the National Rally without mobilizing its parliamentary bloc."

"France deserves a coherent, clear, and balanced energy plan. It is urgent to put an end to political posturing," demanded Brice Lalonde, former Minister of the Environment.

At the forefront of the issue, Energy Minister Marc Ferracci himself denounced the vote as "irresponsible." The moratorium "sends a disastrous signal to sectors that employ thousands of people and have invested in recent years to keep pace with our energy trajectory."

"The examination of the PPL was chaotic" and the balance of the text "was lost," he acknowledged, calling for "a return to calm and lucidity in the energy debates."

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.