Frances recently elected socialist government appears to be employing a different tone towards solar in the country, with an interim package being unveiled aiming to support the industry in the country. Energy minister Delphine Batho released the package today.
Reuters has reported on the new measures, indicating that annual installed capacity for photovoltaics will double to 1 GW in 2013. This still pales in comparison to the between 7 GW and 8 GW neighboring Germany looks likely to have installed in 2012, but it is a step in the right direction.
Furthermore, a bonus of up to 10% will be paid on top of current FITs for solar photovoltaics, for "small solar farms using panels made in Europe", Reuters reports.
The measures will take place when a decree is published later this year. They are seen as being interim measures as the new government formulates a wider energy policy framework.
Reuters has also reported that the head of Frances renewables lobby, Jean-Louis Bal has said that the measure is welcome news, in the near term. "It's the first positive message from the government in over three years," said Bal.
Minister Batho announced the measures at a solar factory in Western France. "Many jobs were lost because of the (former) government's yoyo policies. But we will fight to develop the ecological competitiveness of France," said Batho, as reported by Reuters.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.