Visit Saint-Nazaire, Emmanuel Macron affirmed the need to accelerate the deployment of solar and wind to catch up with France.
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A bill, regulatory provisions, a political impetus. From Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique), where he inaugurated the first wind farm at sea off the French coast, Emmanuel Macron sketched, Thursday, September 22, the main lines of the different tracks aimed at accelerating the deployment of renewables. By displaying a clear goal: going “at least twice as fast” for the commissioning of new facilities. “If we go more slowly than our European neighbors, we will have more problems,” added the head of state.
The players in the sector welcome the assertive ambition to bet on renewables to deal with energy and climatic crises, while France is today one of the bad students of the European Union in this area. These sources of energy represented, in 2021, only 19.3 % of the gross final consumption of energy, well below the threshold of 23.7 % necessary to respect the trajectory fixed by the energy roadmap of the Country.
How to catch up? A bill called “acceleration of renewable energies”, aimed at simplifying procedures, freeing space for the installation of new projects and better sharing the value generated by these energy sources, must be presented Monday September 26 in the Council of Ministers. “This text goes in the right direction but once again forgets the heat and renewable gas, while electricity will only represent 55 % of our consumption in 2050”, notes Alexandre Roesch, general delegate of the Syndicat des Energies Renewable.
confuse “simplification and derogation”
Among the important measures of the text are, for representatives of the sector, the possibility of pooling public debates concerning the projects of offshore wind farms on the scale of a maritime facade, to give more visibility to the different users of the sea ; recognition of the character of “major public interest” of the facilities; or the provisions facilitating electricity purchase contracts – contracts concluded directly between a producer and a consumer, generally long -term and at a fixed price.
strongly disputed by environmental protection organizations, article 3 appearing in the version of the bill submitted to consultation has been deleted. It made possible a lowering of the thresholds from which a project should have been subject to an environmental assessment. “Simplification was eagerly awaited but the bill took the subject upside down by confusing simplification and derogation, explains Jean-Baptiste Lebrun, the director of the Cler-Réseau for the energy transition. The renewable sectors do not ask to be less vigilant about the protection of biodiversity or other issues. “
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