France to launch tenders for 3 GW of solar power

France will be launching a series of tenders for 3 GW of new solar power facilities in a drive to achieve an ambitious target of increasing its cumulative solar capacity to between 18.2 GW and 20.2 GW by 2023.

The French Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea plans six 500-MW solar tenders, to be held between 2017 and 2020, each of them spaced six months apart. The winners will benefit from the country’s new support mechanism for solar power, meaning that they will get a premium on the market price for the generated electricity.

This format will ensure the stability and visibility needed for the transition to larger scale production of solar power, the ministry said.

At present, the country has roughly 6.7 GW of solar capacity and aims to increase that to 10.2 GW in 2018.

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