“We need a battle plan for solar,” insisted Bruno Le Maire, in front of local elected officials and stakeholders in the sector, this Friday near Manosque (Alpes de Haute Provence). The Minister of the Economy was traveling there with Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate in charge of Energy.
The long-term objective has already been set by the President of the Republic: 100 GW (gigawatts) by 2050. Today, this level is less than 20 GW. We must therefore “accelerate”, in the words of the Minister of the Economy. “We must be able to deploy 6 GW of photovoltaic capacity each year, which represents a doubling compared to the 3.2 GW installed last year,” he said. To go faster, the decree on agrivoltaism (solar in agricultural areas) – awaited for a year – should be published this Saturday, April 6, while abandoned motorways will be able to be used to install photovoltaic panels and the authorizations will be given more quickly for installations on buildings and car parks.
But one of the main axes of the solar strategy consists of creating a French industry in this sector. Installing 100 GW of solar panels represents 20 billion euros of investments. “I prefer that these 20 billion euros be used to open factories and create well-paid jobs for our compatriots,” proclaimed Bruno Le Maire. Which is absolutely not the case today. “Almost all of the panels used in France are imported,” admitted the minister, emphasizing that the field in front of which he was speaking was equipped with photovoltaic panels from Malaysia. The few remaining French players are in difficulty. The panel manufacturer Systovi located near Nantes is looking for a buyer.
“Let’s roll up our sleeves and produce in France, by 2030, 40% of the photovoltaic panels we use,” declared the Minister of the Economy. To achieve this, the State and the first 29 park developers and large buyers will sign a “solar pact” in which the first undertakes to massively support the development of solar power in France, and the second promises to make greater use of French panels. New eligibility criteria based on the carbon content of the panels will also be applied in the context of calls for tenders concerning car parks and buildings, in order to favor products manufactured nearby. A low-carbon bonus will also be granted to park developers using French panels, in order to offset the additional cost.
Final point: the giga-panel factories – Carbon and Holosolis – currently under development in France will be supported by the State, in particular via the existing green tax credit. Existing players should also benefit from greater attention, in particular to “find buyers when they are in difficulty, as is currently the case”.
This strategy is similar to that which was put in place for the automobile where the ecological bonus takes into account the environmental footprint over the entire cycle, from production to use, and therefore penalizes vehicles manufactured in Asia. . With some success, since, for electric cars, “the share of vehicles produced in China and registered in France increased from 49% in December 2023 to 24% in February 2024”, welcomed Bruno Le Maire.