Another bad year for onshore solar and wind energy in France: at the current rate, the country will not reach its target for renewable electricity production by the end of 2023, let alone 2028, the Observ’ER barometer pointed out on Tuesday. at a time when Parliament is debating an “acceleration law” for these energies, of uncertain scope.
For onshore wind, the official target of 24.1 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity that had been set in 2020 by the end of 2023 “will not be reached”, with the country barely reaching 20 GW by the end of September 2022.
“Current progress is not in line with the pace required by the multi-year energy program” for the 2019-2023 period, points out this reference report, which points to administrative complexity, spatial limitations or the lack of “acceptability” of the projects .
Administrative complexity
On the photovoltaic side, despite a rebound in 2021 “partially confirmed in 2022”, the jump comes late and “the sector is not yet on the right path”.
France had 15.8 GW of solar capacity in September 2022 and could reach 19 GW by the end of 2023. It would fall short of the expected 20.1 GW and, at this rate, would move further and further away from the ambitions already set for 2028. (between 35 and 44 GW), according to this annual barometer carried out in partnership with the Federation of Communities of the FNCCR and Ademe, the ecological transition agency.
“The electricity supply crisis, exacerbated by the conflict in Eastern Europe, has highlighted a widespread awareness of the need for national energy independence”, highlights Pascal Sokoloff, director general of the FNCCR.
However, this edition of the barometer “demonstrates once again the gap between the declared ambitions, the declarations and the reality on the ground”, he laments.
Today, more than 15 GW of projects ready to materialize are blocked pending validation from State services, according to Ademe.
fine of 500 million euros
This observation comes at a time when Parliament is debating a bill to streamline administrative procedures to facilitate the deployment of renewable energy.
The current content of the text is received with circumspection by the actors, who, on the contrary, fear a complication and rather place their hopes in a speeding-up government instruction recently transmitted to the prefects.
“The vote on this law shows the way forward: in 2022, we could expect more ambition in the French Parliament,” lamented this Tuesday Vincent Jacques Le Seigneur, president of Observ’ER, which publishes the barometer based on official figures. (EDF, Enedis, etc.).
This year, Parliament will also have to define, at the earliest this summer, the new national energy targets for 2033, in the context of the fight against global warming and the increase in electricity needs.
66GW
However, all the projections on carbon neutrality promised in 2050 show that, nuclear reactivation or not, electric renewables will have to be deployed massively, until they represent at least 50% of the total.
Added to this are European bonds. “We are not going at the right pace to achieve both the objectives that we have set ourselves and those that we have inscribed in European marble in December 2022”, underlines Mr. Jacques Le Seigneur.
France has already been fined 500 million euros for not respecting its commitment in 2020 to reach 27% of electricity from renewable sources. According to the latest figures, it still has not achieved it, reaching just 24.2% at the end of 2021.
At the end of 2022, the country had approximately 66 GW of total renewable electricity capacity, divided between 40% hydro (dams), 31% onshore wind and 24% photovoltaic.
Source: BFM TV
