Decryption of the green industry bill adopted at first reading by Parliament

Led by Bruno Le Maire, Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry, the green industry bill testifies to the Government's desire to further accelerate the decarbonization of its most polluting sectors of activity. Echoing the industrial plan of the Green Pact for Europe, France and the European Union intend to develop a new industrial strategy, more sober and virtuous, without harming its competitiveness.

The green industry bill plans, among other things, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from traditional industry, but also to accelerate the development of green industries, namely heat pumps, photovoltaics, batteries and electricity. green hydrogen. The text also aims to accelerate the development of industrial sites, promote virtuous companies in public procurement and finance the decarbonization of green industry.

Focus on the measures adopted in the National Assembly.

Towards national industrial strategy planning

The Republican deputies notably succeeded in having an amendment adopted relating to the implementation by the Government of a national “green industry” strategy for the period 2023-2030. This strategy aims to determine the particularly important sectors which must be established or developed as a priority on the national territory. This strategy is supposed to encourage research and experimentation with new products and processes contributing to the energy and ecological transition. The strategy must be the subject of an annual debate before Parliament.

For Pierre-Marie Perrin, Public Affairs Director of the Hellio group: “Hellio welcomes the will of the deputies to plan the French industrial strategy over 7 years to best support the decarbonization of this key sector. We nevertheless call for this planning to be correlated with the EWC system, and more particularly with the future 6th period currently in preparation. This industrial planning should help to improve the identification of potential energy savings present in the industrial sector. In addition, the implementation of new EEC sheets adapted to the challenges of energy efficiency in industrial buildings, relating to the heating of industrial premises could accelerate the decarbonization of the industrial sector. »

A relaxation of the obligation to install photovoltaic panels on buildings or car parks

A transpartisan amendment, tabled in identical terms by the deputies Nupes, Modem and Renaissance, aims to establish an additional period for companies subject to the obligation to install photovoltaic panels on their buildings or outdoor car parks, resulting from the law of acceleration of the production of renewable energies. Two conditions must be met to benefit from the extension:

• The derogation is only valid for orders of photovoltaic panels achieving technical, social and environmental performance, and offering guarantees of supply resilience and cybersecurity. In other words, the photovoltaic panels subject to the derogation are second-generation panels, which offer better energy and environmental performance. Several industrial sites of this type are planned in France and in Europe in the coming years, and this amendment aims to promote this type of industrial development.
• The taxable person must have a contract of employment with deposit no later than December 31, 2024 as well as a purchase order no later than December 31, 2025.

The ENR production acceleration law now provides for an obligation for photovoltaic equipment on July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2028 for car parks and an obligation on January 1, 2028 for existing buildings on July 1, 2023. The adopted amendment provides that the installation must in any case take place before December 31, 2028.

For Pierre-Marie Perrin, Public Affairs Director of the Hellio group: “This additional time provides real support to the industrial sector of European photovoltaic panels and highlights companies that wish to make the effort to offer more virtuous solutions to consumers. Beyond supporting the installation of more virtuous photovoltaic panels, we believe it is necessary to encourage self-consumption in the industrial sector. Indeed, solar self-consumption allows industry to have a guaranteed supply of renewable energy, but also allows it to significantly reduce its energy bills. No measure exists today in this direction, it is important that the public authorities take up this major subject.

Parliamentary work on the green industry bill will resume next October, with the meeting of deputies and senators in a joint committee. An adoption and promulgation of the law is scheduled for the end of October 2023.