Wind and solar power: the government is restarting the machine to electrify France

"It is an honor for me to announce the relaunch of calls for tenders for renewable electricity," said the Minister Delegate for Energy, Maud Bregeon, alongside the Minister of Economy, Roland Lescure, during a press conference at Bercy.

While the war in the Middle East is causing crude oil prices to soar and affecting purchasing power and economic activity, the objective is to reverse the current trend, moving from 60% oil and gas in final energy consumption in France to 60% decarbonized energy by 2030.

It is included in France's energy roadmap, unveiled on February 13, two weeks before the outbreak of the Gulf War.

This third multi-year energy program (PPE3) also provides for the revival of nuclear power, notably with the construction of six new generation EPR2 reactors, the first of which is due to enter service in 2038.

"Above all, we need to take long-term action to reduce our dependence, by massively facilitating the transition to electricity and increasing electricity production through nuclear and renewable sources," summarized Roland Lescure.

These announcements come a week before the government presents its electrification plan, which aims to reconcile abundant and decarbonized electricity production in France with demand that has been slow to rebound since the 2022 energy crisis.

The two ministers highlighted the expected benefits of this strategy in terms of purchasing power, industrial spin-offs and employment, and trade balance.

France imports 60 billion euros worth of fossil fuels every year "in normal times", Roland Lescure reminded everyone, and "it is very likely that this year we will go beyond that".

Leader in floating wind power

On the contrary, it benefits from one of the lowest electricity prices in Europe, "30 to 35% lower than what our Italian neighbors pay," the minister emphasized.

According to him, the PPE3 represents "at least 120.000 additional jobs by 2035, including 90.000 in renewable energies".

Offshore wind power alone "represents approximately 37 billion euros in terms of taxes and direct or indirect economic and industrial benefits," assured Maud Bregeon.

The goal is to increase France's installed capacity to 15 gigawatts (GW) by 2035, compared to 2 GW currently.

"We are in the process of reindustrializing France by decarbonizing it and making it more sovereign," said Roland Lescure after a visit by the two ministers in the afternoon to the offshore wind farm of the Îles d'Yeu and Noirmoutier in Vendée.

The tenders represent a cumulative capacity of approximately 10 GW (5 GW of fixed-bottom wind and 5 GW of floating wind), spread across all the maritime fronts: Fécamp-Grand-Large, Bretagne-Nord-Ouest, Bretagne-Sud, Oléron, Narbonnaise Sud Hérault, Golfe du Lion Centre and Golfe de Fos.

With fixed-bottom wind turbines, the masts are fixed to the seabed, therefore relatively close to the coasts, while floating wind turbines can be installed further offshore or in places where the seabed is deep very quickly, such as in the Mediterranean.

The government wants to make France "one of the European and world leaders" in floating wind power.

Regarding photovoltaics, he intends to optimize support for individuals and small businesses for self-consumption, particularly collective self-consumption, and, for larger projects, to encourage the re-establishment of photovoltaic panel production projects in Europe.

For onshore wind power, priority is given to renewing existing parks "to reconcile acceptability and competitiveness", with greater capacities rather than developing new masts.

Representatives of the sector welcomed these announcements, but "this momentum must be sustained over time," demanded France Renouvelables.

The French Renewable Energy Association (SER) believes that simply renewing onshore wind farms "will not be enough to achieve" the objectives of the Multiannual Energy Programme (PPE). It has called for a simplification of procedures.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.