The government will reduce aid to solar parks, provoking the anger of the industry

This revision was to be introduced in the initial finance bill (PLF), then had been withdrawn by the government to make room for consultation with the sector, totally opposed to a change.

It will finally come back in the form of a government amendment in the coming days, it was indicated in the entourage of the Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, and the Minister of Public Accounts, Olivier Dussopt.

"There is a general interest in modifying these contracts because there is excessive remuneration," it was argued.

In 2006, the feed-in tariffs for solar production were of the order of 600 euros per megawatt hour, ie ten times the current market prices.

Between 2006 and 2010, costs were divided by four for manufacturers in the sector, without the tariffs being revised in proportion for this period. A moratorium then established a new regime at the end of 2010.

"Around the 2010s, the support could not be readjusted taking into account the fall in costs of the sector", argues to the government.

"There is a rent for some energy companies" and it has become "a support to the detriment of the taxpayer and other renewable energies", according to these sources.

Only the largest contracts will be affected by the review. Installations of less than approximately 250 KW will not be affected, in order to spare individuals, farmers or small professionals.

On an annual expenditure which represents 600 to 800 million euros per year for these contracts, the State expects savings of the order of 300 to 400 million.

Daniel Bour, president of Enerplan, the union of solar energy professionals, immediately denounced an "incomprehensible" and "unprecedented" revision.

"The questioning of a signature of the State, it is a disaster at the time of the energy transition", he reacted to AFP, estimating that this measure would pose a problem of "confidence" .

"We judge ten years late, it's totally anachronistic. People were pioneers, they took enormous risks because there was no funding at the time," he said. also argued.

Professionals are therefore asking the government to abandon its amendment and return to the negotiating table.

The photovoltaic sector is mobilized against the project

Renewable energy companies and in particular those in the solar photovoltaic sector, united in the collective 'Solidarité Renouvelables' are mobilizing against the will expressed by the government to force by the finance law for 2021 a unilateral retroactive measure aimed at reviewing the reduction of certain solar electricity purchase contracts prior to 2011.

Formed as a collective bringing together more than 400 companies and including the professional federations SER and ENERPLAN, the actors of renewable energies and in particular those of the solar photovoltaic sector, denounce the considerable impact that such a measure would have on companies (large groups, ETI, SME, etc.) that make it up:

• Loss of confidence of banks and investors in photovoltaic projects, with possible repercussions on other renewable energies
• Threat to solvency, with the bankruptcy of the photovoltaic installations affected by the measure and a risk of the disappearance of the companies that carry them,
• Threat to employment in the sector, especially in areas that have invested heavily in solar energy,
• Lastly, threats to the lessors (particularly agricultural) of photovoltaic installations and to indirect jobs depending on the sector.

This sector is made up of all types of companies: large groups, mid-sized companies, and small territorial and innovative players. If it has been able to develop until today, it is thanks to the inviolability of the contracts signed between the State and the operators, which is the cornerstone of the confidence of banks and investors in the sector. Without this confidence in the stability of the contractual framework and in the signature of the State, the whole structure of financing and investment collapses, including for future projects: no bank, which will have lost hundreds of millions of euros in solar power plants because of the authoritarian shortening of contracts, will not lend under competitive conditions to new renewable energy projects.

At a time when the State wants to attract investors in the hydrogen sector through guaranteed energy purchase contracts, it inexplicably undermines the trust it has been able to build for ten years with photovoltaic players.

On the contrary, the sector, in a spirit of responsibility, and understanding the budgetary challenges imposed by current circumstances, proposed to the public authorities to create an impact fund dedicated to new projects in the sectors of the future for the energy transition. . By committing to a reduced profitability of its investments, it will reduce the burden on the State in supporting these sectors; the budgetary gain will be at least as important as the expected benefit from the termination of photovoltaic contracts. Above all, intended to be an armed arm of the Recovery Plan and the multi-year energy programming, this fund will help support the emergence of new sectors and the reindustrialization of our territories.