EU approves four French measures to support renewables

The EU has approved four French measures to support the production of renewable electricity. The aid schemes are forecast to increase France’s renewable capacity by around 2,148MW between now and 2042. This is […]

The EU has approved four French measures to support the production of renewable electricity.

The aid schemes are forecast to increase France’s renewable capacity by around 2,148MW between now and 2042.

This is expected to cost €7,681 million (£6,429m).

France will be able to grant feed-in tariffs or top-up payments to all geothermal installations, biomethane plants under 500KW, hydroelectric plants of less than 1MW and all wind farms which submitted an application for aid this year.

Installations of under 500KW will be able to benefit from tariffs of redemption. Facilities with a capacity of more than this will be able to receive support in the form of extra payment in addition to the target price.

A control mechanism will ensure the installations are not excessively compensated.

Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition Policy, said: “The future of Europe’s economic growth depends on our ability to move toward clean energy. In this context, I am pleased to validate four French initiatives in favour of green energies.

“These measures encourage investment in non-polluting production capacities while avoiding undue burdens on the end consumer. This is a very important balance for Europe in the pursuit of our environmental objectives.”

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