Forrest Crellin and America Hernandez write on the Reuter’s website about the shift in energy policy in France. Renewable energy targets (wind and solar) have been cut or loosened compared with previous ambitions while nuclear power is now central to the government’s decarbonisation strategy.
France aims to boost decarbonised power production by 20% over decade, encourage demand
France will seek to boost electricity production from nuclear and renewables by 20% over the next decade, and will publish an electrification plan soon to help drive the move away from fossil fuels, Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Friday.
Answering questions about the country’s newly published energy planning law (PPE), Lescure said he would meet with industry leaders to discuss support measures for electric vehicles and other electrification subsidies for inclusion in the 2027 budget.
“Our demand growth plan is ambitious but realistic … and state support will come at a reasonable cost to public finances,” he told reporters.
The PPE sets targets for France’s power mix and governs wind and solar tenders for 10 years. It was passed by decree on Friday morning, three years late, as disagreement raged among lawmakers over subsidizing renewables and financing new nuclear reactors at a time when France struggles with high debt.
The PPE sets the target for decarbonised electricity production at 585 terawatt-hours by 2030, from a current level of 540 TWh.
The target is above all the scenarios proposed by French grid operator RTE in 2021 even though demand growth forecasts have been revised downward since their publication, said Pierre Dennery, managing director of consultancy Aurora’s France division.
“The review clause scheduled for 2027 will lead to significant adjustments – either on renewables or on new nuclear, depending on which party is in power by then,” he said, referring to a section of the PPE that calls for a review of targets in the same year as the next Presidential election.
The PPE also aims to have 70% of France’s energy consumption come from decarbonised electricity in 2035. Currently 60% of consumption comes from oil and gas and their derivatives.
“It’s a very ambitious target. The main constraint is the time required to deploy the necessary capital investments. Such a transition requires careful planning and substantial financial commitment,” said Domenico De Luca, head of trading and sales at Swiss energy company Axpo.
Lescure previously said the decision to lower France’s renewables targets was due to power demand growing more slowly than expected — something he hoped to change, including by maintaining support for corporate EV fleets and potentially issuing tenders to boost consumption.
“We will have 7 million electric vehicles by 2035 in France, five times more than we currently do,” Lescure said.
Friday’s PPE cut wind and solar targets by about 20%, while nuclear power production targets were boosted 5% to 2035.
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