On Friday 29 September, the European Commission approved four aid regimes to support the development of electricity from onshore wind and solar plants.
The schemes aim to allow France to produce more than an additional 7 GW in electricity from renewable sources. The support regime for onshore wind power, which has been budgeted at €188 million a year (€3.8 billion over 20 years), will take the form of a premium on top of the market price granted to operators of medium-sized or large onshore plants and will increase France's energy capacity by 3 GW over the next three years. Two schemes to support photovoltaic installations on buildings and on the ground, at €232 million a year (€4.6 billion over 20 years), will consist of a feed-in tariff or premium for the plants and is expected to increase energy capacity by more than 3 GW. Finally, a support scheme for 200 MW of additional capacity budgeted at €6 million a year (€124 million over 20 years) will support onshore wind and solar plants.
The Commission believes these measures will help France to achieve its target of obtaining 23% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020. Although it has set an evaluation plan in place to accompany them, it concluded that the measures were compatible with EU state aid rules, as they will not bring about any significant competition distortion. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)