France publishes first-quarter FITs for PV systems up to 500 kW

From pv magazine France

France’s energy regulator, the Commission de Régulation de l’Énergie (CRE), has published the feed-in tariffs for rooftop PV installations not exceeding 500 kW in size for the first quarter of 2022.

Usually, the tariff levels are lowered quarter by quarter according to the new capacity for which connection requests were received in the previous three-month period. This quarter, however, the tariffs remained unchanged despite strong development in the second half of last year.

Different tariffs are applied depending on the project size and location, which can be either on the French mainland, Corsica or in the nation’s overseas territories.

A recent decree introduced by the government modified the criteria for the application of the tariffs, French solar association Enerplan noted. The latest rates apply for mainland France from February 1 to April 30. The tariffs for France’s non-interconnected territories apply from January 1 to March 31.

There are currently no tariffs for ground-mounted projects of less than 500 kWp, but French energy minister Barbara Pompili recently announced that she intends to include such installations located on degraded land. Enerplan will work with the ministry on this with the aim of implementation in 2022.

The French government raised the size limit for PV projects that can qualify for fixed tariffs from 100 kW to 500 kW in October. At the time, in order to boost development in the rooftop segment, the government also decided to reduce the degression rates planned for the feed-in tariffs.