A total of 79 winners won 500 MW of PV capacity in the French tender results. Average price for large scale PV plants in the tender was €62.5 ($66.20) per MWh. The Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea stated these companies will receive premium of €3 ($3.18) per MWh as more than 60% of the winners have committed themselves to participatory investment.
This was first round of the 3,000 MW solar power capacity that the country aims to auction. The ministry plans to launch another tender for 500 MW solar power capacity in May 2017. In 2018 and 2019, France will launch two tenders of 500 MW PV capacity each twice a year to achieve 3 GW capacity.
These winning projects together are likely to generate 700 GWh annually, and attract total investment of €460 million ($487.2 million).
Tender results for self-consumption projects
The ministry headed by Ségolène Royal also awarded 62 participants in the tender for self-consumption renewable facilities. It was directed at encouraging industrial, tertiary and agricultural installations to produce and consume their own electricity locally.
Winners of 20 MW capacity in total will receive premiums at a weighted price of €19.35 ($20.50) per MWh. The are supposed to produce 25 GWh of clean energy per year while generating investments of €27 million ($28.5 million). More than two-thirds of the selected PV modules are made in France.
New tenders launched
Royal launched a multi-annual call for tenders for self-consumption from renewables category. The first nomination period will close in September. At the same time, the ministry also published a tender to support innovative solar installations. The first nomination period will close in September 2017.
Earlier this month, France reported its installed PV capacity in 2016 as 559 MW, taking the cumulative PV capacity to 7,134 MW at the end of December 2016 (see France Installed 559 MW PV In 2016).
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