France Solar Energy Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

France Solar Energy Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The French solar energy market is expected to register a CAGR of more than 5% during the forecast period, 2022-2027. The COVID-19 outbreak in Q1 of 2020 had a major impact on energy systems around the country, curbing investments and threatening to slow the expansion of key clean energy projects. Factors such as rising demand for clean energy solutions, increasing investments, and expansion of solar energy capacities are expected to be major drivers for the France solar energy market during the forecast period. However, the widespread generation of electricity from nuclear power is expected to be a major restraint on the growth of the French solar energy market.

Key Highlights

• The solar photovoltaic (PV) segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period, owing to increasing solar PV installations across the country.
• France aims to produce 33% of its total energy from renewables, especially solar energy by 2030. This is expected to create opportunities for the France solar energy market during the forecast period.
• Electricity generation from nuclear energy is expected to restrain the French solar energy market during the forecast period.

Key Market TrendsSolar Photovoltaic (PV) Segment to Dominate the Market

• Increasing demand for clean energy sources is one of the primary drivers for the solar energy market in the country. The solar power capacity is set to continue expanding with a target of around 18–20 GW installed by 2023.
• In 2020, France's solar PV installed capacity accounted for more than 11.7 GW. Solar PV had over 21% share in the total renewable energy mix. This is due to increasing projects on solar energy across the country.
• France has announced a new 10-measure plan to accelerate the development of photovoltaics energy, featuring new and existing provisions. It is designed to support the installation of more than 3 GW per year throughout the country by the end of 2025.
• The country's Multi-Year Energy Program (PPE) plans to reach between 35.6 GW and 44.5 GW of solar power by 2028. The plan sets a target of 1,000 solar projects on public land by 2025, particularly along motorways, which are expected to dominate the solar energy market.
• In February 2021, France's energy regulator, the CRE, launched its 10th tender for the construction of utility-scale solar PV projects exceeding 500 kW in size, with a total capacity of 700 MW, and was open till 25th June 2021. The French authorities are expected to allocate 450 MW for ground-mounted PV installations exceeding 5 MW in size, 180 MW for PV projects with an installed power of between 500 kW and 5 MW, and 70 MW for projects ranging from 500 kW to 10 MW, which will be built on parking shades.
• In November 2021, TotalEnergies launched its largest photovoltaic solar power plant in France, with a capacity of 55 megawatts (MW). The solar farm is located northeast of Gien (Loiret), comprising 126,000 photovoltaic panels spread over 75 hectares. The plant will produce around 64 GWh per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 38,000 people.
• In February 2022, France government planned to have more than 100GW of installed solar PV capacity by 2050. This is expected to drive the solar energy market in the country.
• Therefore, the aforementioned factors are expected to drive the France solar energy market in the forecast period.

Electricity Generation From Nuclear Energy Restraining the Market Demand

• France has a very low-carbon electricity mix owing to its large nuclear fleet and stands as the second-largest nuclear energy producer after United States. The country has decades of history in electricity generation from nuclear energy starting before 1960, with more than 57 nuclear reactors spread over the country.
• In 2020, France produced over 338.67 TWh of electricity from nuclear power. Nuclear energy accounted for 70% of electricity from the total energy mix. High dependence on nuclear energy for power generation is expected to hinder the solar energy market growth.
• France derives major electricity from nuclear energy due to a long-standing policy based on energy security. The county's total nuclear capacity stood at 62.3 GWe as of 2020. The government aims to reduce this to 50% by 2035.
• Therefore, cheaper electricity generation from nuclear energy and more reliability of nuclear-produced electricity are expected to be the major restraint for renewable energy, especially in the solar energy market in the country.

Competitive Landscape

The French solar energy market is moderately consolidated. The key players in the market include Engie SA, EDF Renewables, Albioma SA, TotalEnergies SE, and meeco AG.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

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