Solar Snapshot France

France has been making headlines recently because of a motorist protest movement (the ‘yellow vest’ movement) that has threatened to bring the country to a standstill. These protests came just a week after President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced its new long-term energy strategy, in which it plans to open up possibilities for renewables, setting a significant target for solar of 45 GW by 2030. However, the plan also stipulated a delay in the decommissioning of approximately 20% of France’s nuclear power generation assets, resetting that deadline from 2025 to 2035. Amidst all of these events, everyone is trying to figure out what these new measures mean for the future of solar energy in France.

Within the space of a few years, the French solar energy market has undergone profound and accelerated change. This change was driven by the stabilization and simplification of the regulatory framework, the intensification of the pace of tenders, and an overall increase in the government’s ambitions and initiatives. Together with other factors - such as high levels of solar irradiation, and the rise of the additional remuneration mechanism - this evolution has led to the emergence of one of the world’s most attractive solar markets.