Ségolène Royal offers 3 000 megawatts over three years in French solar
New Factory THE 25 / 08 / 2016
Minister of the Environment Ségolène Royal launched Wednesday 24 August a tender for 3 000 megawatts of ground-based solar power plants in six installments over three years. What give the hexagonal sector unprecedented visibility and long claimed.
Horizon clear for French solar. A call for tenders for 3 megawatts (MW) of ground-based solar power plants over three years was launched on Wednesday August 000 by the Minister of the Environment, Ségolène Royal. "The new expected capacities are divided into six application tranches of 24 MW, each spaced six months apart. The projects will therefore be carried out from 500, and until 2017", details the press release published by the ministry.
This call for tenders, announced at the end of June by the Minister, is part of the development trajectory of photovoltaic energy planned in the framework of the energy transition law passed a year ago. Some 10 200 MW cumulative facilities are targeted for 2018 and 18 200 to 20 200 MW for 2023. Another call for tenders is expected concerning the installations on the buildings. It should cover a volume of 450 MW per year for three years. Today, photovoltaics in France totals a little more than 6 000 MW installed.
The Renewable Energies Union (SER) welcomed this launch. "This call for tenders responds to a repeated request from the SER. It will bring visibility to the entire sector over the entire value chain", declared Jean-Louis Bal, president of SER, and Arnaud Mine, president of SER-SOLER - the branch of SER dedicated to solar energy - in a press release.
Radical turn
This multi-year call for tenders represents a radical departure from the situation that prevailed until now. Since 2011, only three tenders for large ground-based power plants have been launched. Above all, they were not programmed and the second and third tenders have long played the Arlésienne, putting a strain on the nerves of the sector. Especially since the volumes did not exceed 500 MW each time. Candidates rushed in droves, posting a volume of offers several times higher than that of the call for tenders.
The sector has been asking the government for years to give it more visibility with multi-year calls for tenders. In particular, a minimum volume of 1 megawatts per year was requested by the SER. The minister repeated these demands, satisfying the SER, which nevertheless maintains its pressure. "We are now impatiently awaiting the launch of the second call for tenders dedicated to building installations," concludes the union's press release.
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