France

Spain, Portugal, France and the European Commission have signed a deal to increase the capacity of the energy interconnection between the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. Currently, the interconnection capacity is 6,000 MW and, thus, far from the 15% goal set in 2015.

Oil and gas company Total has announced it will work alongside Shanghai-based NIO – the world’s inaugural Formula E champion – to develop products for a potentially huge electric vehicle marketplace in the populous Asian nation.

French solar project developer, Solstyce and rooftop PV specialist, Enerpur are merging into a single company; while France-based building materials provider, Terreal has become the largest shareholder of mounting system provider, GSE Integration.

Through the tender, the French government intends to allocate 200 MW for ground-mounted PV plants up to 30 MW, and 100 MW for rooftop solar systems up to 8 MW. Projects financed through crowdfunding will be granted the €3/MWh bonus, which is also included in all of the national tenders.

The announcement was given by the French energy company during the #PlaceAuSoleil initiative, a new plan of France’s government to speed up PV development, and to make surfaces for large-scale solar plants available. The new package of measures includes doubling the volume of tenders for PV projects on agricultural land and increasing by 50% the volume of tenders for rooftop PV.

The huge 1.2 GW PV facility is currently being planned in the Lot-et-Garonne Department, southern France. The project’s required investment is expected to reach around €1 billion. Five big solar players are currently interested in developing the plant.

Engie has released a statement on the rumors that it was looking to invest in EDP Renováveis. Currently the Portuguese renewable energy company, and its parent, power utility EDP, are attracting international interest, also from Chinese state-owned power company China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).

A 2 MW facility is being planned by French developer Neoen at a depleted mining site in southern France. Despite the unquestionable value of bringing solar to an area contaminated with radioactive waste, the field still requires more action to secure the safety of its surrounding areas.

The Bordeaux-headquartered crowdfunding platform for solar and renewable energy projects has been active in France, mostly in the wind sector, since 2012.

European markets: Growth in solar installations returned to European shores in 2017, with some of the usual suspects posting big numbers, and several new players awakening to the possibilities of PV. Here, pv magazine provides an overview of the latest movements on the continent.