France Increases Solar Target

• A new energy law in France stipulates increasing the share of renewables in the total power generation mix to 40% by 2030
• The new solar target is 20.2 GW in 2023; at the end of 2015, over 6 GW solar power was installed in France
• Along with PV, targets are revised for wind, hydropower and other sources of renewable energy
• Conseil Superieur de l'Energie will publish the final revised targets in an impending publication

France has increased its solar power capacity installation target from 10,200 MW by the end of 2018 to 20,200 MW by the end of 2023. The French industry body, Conseil Superieur de l'Energie (CSE) will publish the revised figures in its upcoming publication, reported Reuters. At the end of 2015, the country's installed solar PV capacity was 6,191 MW.

That's good news, as the French market disappointed in 2015, when only 879 MW was installed, which included a 300 MW solar power plant, the largest built in Europe so far, according to the Market Report 2015 from SolarPower Europe. With around additional 14 GW of solar targeted until 2023, that means in average 1.75 GW of solar installations for each of the coming 8 years.

The French agency has also increased the country's targets for other sources of renewable energy. The target for wind power will now be 25 GW by 2023, from 15 GW aimed for 2018. The onshore wind power capacity, according to grid operator RTE, was over 10 GW. Hydropower capacity, which was more than 25 GW, is set to grow slightly to over 26 GW by 2023.

The changes are a result of the energy law, which came into being last summer stating that the country needs to have 40% of its power production coming from renewable energy by 2030. It also stipulates that the nuclear energy share in the total energy mix should drop from 75% today to 50% by 2025