France Expands Cumulative Solar PV Capacity To 19 GW

• France expanded its cumulative solar PV capacity to a total of 19 GW at the end of September 2023 
• It includes 2.2 GW added during initial 9M, representing a YoY increase of around 16% 
• Grid-connection requests for 21.4 GW PV capacity are in queue, including 5.4 GW with signed connection agreements 

France has reported around 16% YoY increase in new solar PV capacity additions during 9M/2023, according to the country's Données et Etudes Statistiques or Data and Statistical Studies Department (SDES). At the end of September 2023, its cumulative PV capacity expanded to 19 GW as per the provisional numbers released. 

The 2.2 GW capacity brought online during 9M/2023 includes 630 MW in Q1, 796 MW in Q2 and 803 MW in Q3. SDES says 36% of all this capacity included systems of more than 250 kW that represent only 0.2% of the number of new connections. On the other hand, smaller installations of less than 9 kW account for 94% of the number of newly connected units and 25% of new power. 

During Q3/2023, 45.4% of PV installations contributed to partial or complete self-consumption as their share grew by 2.3 points on a sequential basis. 

All of the new capacity this year is sited in mainland France, led by 415 MW in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, 351 MW in Occitanie and 303 MW in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. These 3 regions along with Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Grand Est accounted for 68% of the newly installed capacity in the initial 3 quarters of 2023.  

Mainland France also dominates cumulative capacity of 19 GW with 18.49 GW located here. New Aquitaine accounts for the largest chunk of 4.37 GW of the same. 

Solar PV projects in the queue of grid connection requests increased by 27% since January 2023 to a total of 21.4 GW, comprising 5.4 GW with a signed connection agreement. 

Under its multi-year energy program (PPE), France aims to grow its cumulative installed PV capacity to 20.1 GW by 2023-end, and expand it to between 35.1 GW and 44 GW by 2028-end. However, this official target is likely to be expanded to between 54 GW and 60 GW by 2030, further up to 75 GW and 100 GW by 2035 under its draft NECP announced recently (see France Aims For 60 GW Solar PV Capacity By 2030).