France's grid-connected PV capacity tops 10 GW

France’s total grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity passed the 10-GW threshold after the country brought live 182 MW of new plants in the first quarter of 2020.

At the end of March, France had 10,072 MW of grid-connected solar parks, as compared to 9,892 MW a year before, with most of the facilities being in mainland France. In the first quarter alone, 6,933 of new installations were put on stream, or 182 MW in total, which was a 7% increase in annual terms, data provided by the French energy ministry’s Department of Data and Statistical Studies (SDES) shows.

According to the statistics, the highest number of grid-connected PV parks commissioned in January-March were in the south of mainland France, mostly in the regions of New Aquitaine, Occitanie, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. In terms of capacity, around 41% of the newly-commissioned plants were larger than 250 kW.

Solar power production in the first quarter amounted to 2.3 TWh, rising from 2.2 TWh a year earlier thanks to the higher solar radiation levels. Photovoltaics supplied 1.7% of the country’s electricity demand during the three months.

France’s solar project pipeline at the end of March stood at 7.4 GW. About 1.8 GW of these already have grid-connection contracts in place.

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