Paris — Sluggish project approvals and the fact that wind power is sold to the government, rather than directly to customers, make France less attractive than some other countries for renewable investments, according to the director of TotalEnergies France.
Isabelle Patrier was speaking ahead of TotalEnergies’ inauguration on Friday of a 63-megawatt wind farm in northeast France.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
France hopes to have 45 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind in operation by 2050 to achieve carbon neutrality.
So far two offshore wind farms totalling 0.97 GW are fully operational, with bidding lasting 2.5 to 3 years on average.
“There are countries in which you go much faster in renewable electricity production than you do in France, whether it’s offshore wind, onshore wind or solar,” Patrier said.
“France’s 2019-2023 energy planning law called for 3.7 gigawatts of wind tenders. That wasn’t achieved. So there’s a challenge regarding deployment speed — and for us, our objectives have to be achieved,” she added.
“In Germany, in offshore wind, you can recoup the electrons you generate and sell them directly to your clients in contracts to help them decarbonise, you’re not selling them to the German state … That’s the key aspect in wind in places we are present like Scotland, Britain, offshore New York in the U.S. where we’ve won large contracts, and in Asia.”
“France remains France for TotalEnergies, in the sense where it’s a key country for us … but we will invest in offshore wind in places where … we have the power to produce electricity rapidly to supply our customers.”
But on Tuesday (May 21) the head of state utility Eskom said talks were being held with groups funding the country’s efforts to decarbonize over delays to the closure of some coal-fired power plants.
CONTEXT
TotalEnergies is France’s third-largest green electricity provider, with 2 GW of installed renewable capacity there out of 23 GW globally.
The company aims to triple its renewable electricity production to exceed 100 terawatt-hours globally by 2030.
*America Hernandez; editing: Mark Potter – Reuters
