France

The Ministry of the Economy and Finance has eliminated an ambiguity in the tax code: the French are not subject to a tax on the self-consumption of solar energy – even in the case of rented or leased photovoltaic installations. This clarification provides valuable certainty for renewable energy developers who want to innovate their business models.

While Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and Brazil attracted more funds than last year, China’s transition to an auction-based procurement system and slow performance overall in Europe saw worldwide backing decrease. BloombergNEF does expect investments to ramp up in the second half, however.

Using a VPP to regulate thousands of data points according to price signals can enable generation asset owners to take care of their systems within seconds and with very high granularity.

The procurements relate to self-consumption projects with a generation capacity of 100 kW-1 MW. The next tender will be launched in September and will allocate 25 MW of solar capacity. The tenders had been suspended because of low interest and disproportionately high final tariffs for surplus power injected into the grid.

German power distributor Energy2market intends to develop its international activity under its new French owner. The founding shareholders and Trailstone UK will sell their stock to EDF subsidiary Pulse Croissance.

While market experts suggest solid-state battery technology will not play a significant role in the storage industry until 2025, one company may be leading the race. Blue Solutions, electrical energy storage award winner at The smarter E Europe in Munich, Germany, says it has developed the only commercialized solid-state lithium battery. pv magazine caught up with the company around the European trade show to discuss its award-winning technology and unique position in the market.

The Ademe has identified 17,764 sites that could help France’s ambitious solar plans to materialize. Many neglected areas that are suitable for solar are old deposits of hydrocarbons, but parking lots also offer an additional 4 GW of potential.

Leading representatives of the European solar industry have issued a call for a new industrial strategy ahead of the European Commission’s upcoming proposals for the sector, which are expected this summer.

A boom in self-consumption and gigawatt-auctions for solar parks are drawing developers to France’s historically underwhelming photovoltaics market. Europe’s dozy giant has long punched beneath its weight, but pro-renewable reforms are helping the country cut red tape and unlock its vast solar potential.

Voltalia has secured a 25-year power purchase agreement from French retailer Boulanger for power generated by a 5 MW project. The off-taker has also committed to buying electricity from new wind and solar plants to be operated by the French developer.