After wind, six months delay for solar due to administrative hiccups

These difficulties arise at a time when the government wants to accelerate the deployment of renewables in France, lagging behind some of its neighbors.

The December 2022 call for tenders, managed by the Energy Regulation Commission (Cre), concerned a total capacity of 900 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic projects (ground and roofs).

But a not very explicit modification of the specifications resulted in the non-compliance of a large part of the files submitted, explain the Union of Renewable Energies (Ser) and the solar union Enerplan. Only 23 applications were selected.

The same type of problem had affected the last call for tenders concerning onshore wind power, for which only 54 MW of projects could be selected (out of 900 MW to be allocated).

To compensate for this failure, the next solar bidding session, scheduled for June, will cover more than 2 gigawatts (GW) of projects, welcome the two professional associations in a joint press release.

They welcome "a record volume which should more than compensate for the failure rate of the previous session".

After the quack on wind power, Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher had judged the outcome of the call for tenders "unacceptable", according to those around her.

"Through new calls for tenders and the rise of PPAs (over-the-counter electricity sales agreements, editor's note) that the law for the acceleration of renewable energies has stimulated, the ministry's objective is to pursue the acceleration of the deployment of renewable energy,” the ministry said on Friday.

According to the solar sector, the June session and its record volume should allow "to do better than in 2022".

According to Enerplan, some 2,5 GW of new solar capacity was installed in France last year, which is less than in 2021 (2,7 GW). The sector, on the other hand, hopes to reach 3 GW in 2023, which, with an expected total of around 19 GW at the end of the year, should bring the country closer to its 2023 target of 20 GW.

The ministerial will to catch up with the "missed" of December, "the sector also takes it as a commitment for the success of the acceleration law and the future energy-climate law", told AFP Daniel Bour, the President of Enerplan, who will closely follow the implementing decrees for this law and the debates expected from this summer on the country's future energy roadmap.