France has assigned 103 utility-scale solar projects in what was the fourth out of a series of six tenders. Between all of them, they are expected to reach a total of 4 GW of new solar facility. The projects assigned in this particular round had an average price of EUR 58.2/MWh and an overall capacity of 720 MW.

The French Ministry for Ecological and Solidary Transition launched a series of six tenders for solar energy projects in the utility-scale sector. The fourth of these was held earlier this month and in its course, 103 projects were awarded with sizes between 500 kW to 17 MW.

The idea behind the scheme is to grant projects awarded during these auctions special conditions called “complement de rénumeration”. This means that the owners will sell power to the electricity market instead of major power providers, as common in the FIT mechanism, and are also entitled to an ex post tariff to add to the sale.

Lower prices than previously

As compared to previous tenders, this time the average prices were slightly lower with EUR 58.2/MWh – the third round, for example, reached EUR 61.6/MWh. The first two rounds resulted in average prices of EUR 62.5/MWh and EUR 61.6/MWh, respectively.

Projects will be located in South and North

Just a small share of these newly awarded projects will be developed in the North of France (in Centre-Val de Loire) – only about 84.8 MW. The majority of the remaining capacity will be located in the Southern areas of Nouvelle Aquitaine (168.6 MW), Occitanie (157.3 MW), Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur (79.5MW).

850 MW expected in last two tenders

The French government expects to award 850 MW in each of the remaining two rounds. As a result, the entire series would then total in 4 GW of new capacity. This expectaction is based upon a decision made by the current government in late 2017, which stated that the tenders should award at least 2.45 GW every year (as opposed to the previous 1.45 GW).