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France Looks To Support its Solar Panel Industry

Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
(image credit: al3xadk1n5)

The solar panel industry in France has struggled in the past two years with thousands of jobs being lost in that period. In 2010 there were around 32,500 people employed in the industry with that figure dropping to about 18,000 people by 2012 – a reduction of 14,500.

As a result, Delphine Batho who is the Energy Minister for the French Socialist Government stated that greater financial support was to be forthcoming to those smaller solar panel farms using solar panels manufactured in Europe and the target for solar power generation has been doubled to 1,000 megawatts per annum. That figure is what would be produced by a fairly small nuclear power reactor. This is expected to generate 2 billion euros of investment in the struggling industry.

Furthermore, the country will pay a bonus of anything approaching 10 per cent on the feed in tariff subsidy that is made to solar power generators via the electricity bills of consumers in respect of fairly small solar panel farms where the solar panels have been manufactured within one or more of the European Economic Area’s (EEA) thirty countries.

Delphine Batho stated:”Many jobs were lost because of the (former) government’s yo-yo policies. But we will fight … to develop the ecological competitiveness of France.”

The above are emergency measures that will come into force later in 2013 as soon as a decree is past. This will provide welcome assistance to the solar panel industry until an energy law is produced once the “energy transition debate” has taken place.

Jean-Louis Bal, who leads SER that is the major lobby on renewable energy in France observed that these latest measures would enable the solar power sector to survive over the short term but unfortunately did not help the sector in the long term.

Jean-Louis Bal stated: “However it’s the first positive message from the government in over three years.”

At the present time renewable energy makes up for 13 per cent of the consumption of energy with a target of 23 per cent to meet by 2020.

The country are endeavouring to lower their reliance on solar panels made overseas after a trade deficit of 1.35 billion euros was created.

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