Prices Drop in French 200 MW Rooftop Tender

• France has awarded 200 MW rooftop PV capacity
• The average winning tariff in this round was €80.8 per MWh, that's a 5% decrease from the previous average of €85 per MWh
• The tariff level also means an over 13% decline from April last year
• The largest awarded project has a capacity of 6.8 MW and is based in Nouvelle Aquitaine

France has awarded 200 MW rooftop PV capacity it tendered in March 2018 to 392 winning projects. The average winning tariff in this round was €80.8 per MWh, that's a 5% decrease from the previous average of €85 per MWh, and over 13% decline from April last year (see France Awards 150 MW Of Rooftop PV).

The capacity will be deployed atop buildings, greenhouses, agricultural buildings and carports. The list of winners is available on the website of the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition. In the category 500 kW to 8 MW, 39 projects with a total of 101 MW was awarded, the bulk of the projects but with basically the same capacity was awarded in the 100 to 500 kW category. The largest awarded project has a capacity of 6.8 MW and is based in Nouvelle Aquitaine.

The country has been holding rooftop auctions for PV installations ranging from 100 kW to 8 MW since April 2017. This was the fourth round.

 The next bidding round in the rooftop category is scheduled to close on July 6, 2018. The volume has been increased to 225 MW from the previous 200 MW.It reflects the changes introduced by the administration in December 2017, when it decided to increase the annual capacity of solar tenders to 2.45 GW from the previous 1.45 GW target (see France To Tender 2.45 GW PV Annually). France wants to speed up the pace of solar installations to meet its 20.2 GW target by 2023.

Formation of solar working group

The French government has now also set up a solar working group with the aim to accelerate the development of solar energy. Among the major tasks of this group are:

• urban planning procedures and mobilization of land for the development of solar projects
• self-consumption
• development of solar projects in non-interconnected areas
• solar thermal power

The group will make operational proposals to implement PV in the agricultural sector, local communities and business, such as retail chains and warehouses and historic buildings. It plans to meet at the end of May 2018. Results are scheduled to be announced by the end of June 2018.

The French government says that the country holds a rooftop PV potential of 350 GW capacity and over 600 GW of ground mounted PV. At the end of 2017, its cumulative PV capacity was 8 GW and it plans to reach 10.2 GW by the end of 2018.

In terms of annual additions, 587 MW was connected to the grid in 2016 and 875 MW in 2017. For 2018, France expects to add 1.2 to 1.5 GW.