Wind power will play its part in the government's energy strategy, says Minister Givernet

"France must walk on its two legs with renewable energies and nuclear power," the minister said in a speech opening the National Wind Energy Conference of France Renewables. "And I want to get the message across very clearly: there is no question of pitting one against the other. We must work together to have the most balanced energy mix possible," she added.

She was keen to clarify the remarks made by Prime Minister Michel Barnier in his general policy statement before the National Assembly on Tuesday. He pledged to "resolutely" pursue the development of nuclear power and renewable energies but to measure "all their impacts" concerning wind power, which surprised, even worried, the players in the sector.

"+By measuring all the impacts better+, I believe that this sentence has not escaped your notice. I want to make you understand that I am here precisely so that we can anticipate these impacts, that we can work on them together and that we can show France that France's energy landscape, well, it can be accepted", Olga Givernet was keen to reassure.

According to the minister, wind power will play its full role in enabling France to achieve its carbon neutrality objectives. "To walk on our two legs, we must gradually but quickly break away from our dependence on fossil fuels (...) To do this, we are of course counting on wind power, whether on land or at sea (...) And there is also solar power," she said.

"This, with the responsibility of taking all French people along so that our energy transition is desired and not endured. In this sense, we have to do to continue to convince our fellow citizens that onshore wind power is a sustainable, economical and French solution," she stressed.

"With more than 20.000 non-relocatable jobs, it meets our energy and industrial sovereignty objectives. This is why we must continue the current development of wind power," she assured.