France Alters Rules to Expedite 6 GW Renewable Projects Already Awarded

The electricity market regulator of France – CRE (Commission de régulation de l’énergie) – has published new rules that will allow renewable energy projects whose tender has already been awarded to be commissioned and come online earlier than their planned timelines. This will allow them to take advantage of high electricity prices. Many of the renewable energy RE) projects are running in difficulty and the new set of rules will enable players to rapidly commission projects of over 6 GW.

The new rules also allow the RE players to apply for the extension of the deadlines that will allow them to complete the RE installations. They could also modify the power generation upto 140 per cent of the initial plan accepted in the tenders.

CRE said on the development, “The general objective of these modifications is to enable producers to absorb part of the increase in costs and rates, in particular by selling their production on the market now, before their support.”

The new rules by the French Government targets about 6.1 GW of renewable energy capacity for addition. In this, there will be 3.4 GW of wind power and 2.7 GW of solar power. Now, the power generators can call on the minister responsible for the energy sector for application of new rules.

The regulator had welcomed the new system and has said that the modification makes it possible to strengthen and accelerate the deployment of renewable energies in the context of an electricity supply crisis.

The French Government wants to increase the installed renewable power capacity by ten times to 100 GW by 2050. For this the government will EUR 1 billion under the France 2030 National Investment Plan. In this, installed offshore wind energy farms alone will have a share of 40 GW.

In March 2022, two floating wind farms were launched in the Mediterranean with 250 MW capacities each. They will be enhanced to 500 MW each with subsequent extensions.