Between January 2021 and September 2021, France installed 2.034 GW of new solar PV capacity, up from 761 MW installed a year back, taking the country's cumulative capacity to 13.2 GW, according to provisional numbers for the period released by French Données et Etudes Statistiques or Data and Statistical Studies Department (SDES).
The 2.034 GW represents of 44,639 systems of which 65% of connected power came from installations over 250 kW, representing less than 1% of the new connections. Around 83% capacity installed came from systems with 9 kW or less, representing around 7% of the new power.
It generated 12.5 TWh solar power since the beginning of 2021, compared to 11.4 TWh in 9M/2020. Overall, SDES said solar production represents 3.7% of the country's total electricity consumption, vis-à-vis 3.5% last year.
When divided amongst the 3 quarters, SDES says 737 MW was installed in Q1/2021, 772 MW in Q2/2021 and only 525 MW in Q3/2021. In the last quarter, 26.5% of PV installations in Mainland France, representing 6.5% of installed capacity, were generating for self-consumption on partly basis. SDES says number of such installations has gone up 2.5 points on sequential basis.
At the end of September 2021, France had 10.6 GW of solar power capacity in queue with 3.0 GW having signed connection agreement.
Of the cumulative 13.2 GW, 12.58 GW is sited in mainland France. Largest capacity of the cumulative is installed in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (3.16 GW), Occitanie (2.58 GW) and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (1.44 GW), among others.
Under its Multi-Year Energy Program (PPE), France aims to increase its cumulative installations to 20.1 GW by the end of 2023, and expand the same to between 35.1 GW and 44 GW by the end of 2028.
Sharing provisional installation numbers for H1/2021, SDES had previously calculated 1.36 GW having been deployed (see France Installed 1.36 GW New Solar In H1/2021).