Renewable energy: regulator recommends downward "adjustment" of development targets

Prime Minister François Bayrou announced Monday the postponement "until the end of the summer" of the decree on the Multiannual Energy Program (PPE), France's energy roadmap for the next 10 years. This plan is intended to put France on the path to carbon neutrality by 2050 and details consumption and production targets in France.

"The CRE has a consistent position: it considers it urgent to publish the PPE to accelerate the exit from fossil fuels and allow sectors to anticipate. It is necessary to electrify both for the climate and to guarantee sovereignty," Ms. Wargon told AFP journalists on Wednesday.

According to her, "in this perspective, we must therefore continue to develop renewable energies, while waiting for the commissioning of new nuclear power," not before 2038 at the earliest, "and support the demand for electricity."

"The upcoming adoption of the PPE may require adjusting the pace of development of certain renewable energy targets to take into account the demand-side gap and ensure the proper integration of renewable energy into the electricity system," she adds.

In a statement to Les Echos on Wednesday, Ms. Wargon also indicated that "certain electricity supply targets may need to be adjusted downwards, as demand has fallen behind."

"We must continue to mobilize the historic nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, but there is some room for improvement in other renewable energies," she says.

On Tuesday, France Renouvelables, the professional organization that brings together more than 360 members, professionals in renewable electrical energy, deplored the postponement of the decree on the PPE, calling on the government to "publish it without delay in order to relaunch the calls for tenders essential to the development of French industrial sectors in renewable electrical energy."

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.