France

BloombergNEF figures show financial vehicles linked to environmental and/or social benefits amounted to $247bn worldwide in 2018. The US led the way, almost entirely because state-backed mortgage provider Fannie Mae issued $19.8bn worth of green home loans.

More than a dozen European ministers of economic affairs have released a statement setting out the next steps to turn Europe into an industrial hub for large-scale cell production. The role of SMEs and competition was highlighted as ministers said European cells should provide innovation in terms of raw material use and sustainability, hinting at a pivot away from lithium-ion.

The regulations for protected species and the procedure to obtain a derogation are complex and should not be understated by solar PV project developers. The avoidance of the significant risks linked with those regulations requires technical and legal expertise, and support from the very beginning of the development of the project, write lawyers Anouk Darcet-Felfen and Laurence Duriez.

The French renewable energy fair confirmed the central role of solar in the country’s energy transition. Despite the current difficult political situation, the event attracted more visitor and exhibitor numbers than ever. Read on to discover the four key takeaways from this year’s EnerGaïa.

Through the program, the French government is supporting projects ranging in size from 100 kW to 5 MW. Tenders, to award 20-year FIT contracts for projects, will be held by the end of 2019.

Although the French President promised that solar capacity will increase fivefold by 2030, France’s new energy strategy will keep nuclear power at the core of its electricity system. The decommissioning of approximately 20% of France’s nuclear power generation assets, originally set by the country’s energy transition law for 2025, has been delayed to 2035. Macron said this plan may be reconsidered, however, if storage technologies help mitigate intermittence issues and if there can be stronger European integration.

Energy cooperative Enercoop has issued a request for proposal to select renewable energy projects up to 10 MW in size for which it could award a 15 to 30-year PPA. The move is intended to attract bids for projects built without public support.

The French government has devised three possible scenarios for the planned phasing out of part of its nuclear power generation assets. Even under the most optimistic scenario, the target to reduce the share of nuclear power from around 75% to 50% by 2025, which had been set by the previous government, will only be reached in 2035. The most pessimistic scenario envisages the construction of four new nuclear reactors by 2040.

The entire capacity of an experimental mixed auction for wind and solar has been awarded to large-scale PV projects, the French Government announced. The average tariff price secured was €54.94/MWh.

The rise of batteries will attract that headline figure in investment up to 2040, say analysts, as exponential growth in EV ownership, falling stationery system costs and the needs of the world’s grid-poor regions combine to boost lithium-ion technology.