France, lagging behind in renewable energies, accelerated their development in the first half of 2022, in particular thanks to the connection of an additional gigawatt of wind power, i.e. four times more than during the same period of 2021.
Nearly half of this increase in capacity comes from the commissioning in spring 2022 of the first offshore wind farm in France, off Saint-Nazaire, according to statistics from the Ministry of Energy Transition, published Friday on its website. site.
7.8% of French electricity consumption
As of June 30, 2022, the French wind farm thus reached a power of 20.0 gigawatts (GW), far behind the country's objective of producing 24.1 GW of wind electricity by the end of 2023.
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The wind power sector, which deplores in particular the slowness in issuing authorizations, had gained only one GW over the whole of 2021. In addition, the production of wind electricity, which represents 7.8% of the French electricity consumption, fell sharply compared to the second quarter of 2021 (-11%), "due to more unfavorable wind conditions", according to the ministry's data and statistical studies service.
Photovoltaic solar electricity on the rise
On the solar PV park side, only 1.098 GW of electricity was connected in the first six months of 2022, compared to 1.534 GW in the same period of 2021.
“This slowdown in newly connected power is explained by a higher proportion of low-power power plant connections this semester,” explains the service.
In total, the power of the photovoltaic solar park reached 15.2 GW, against a target set in the law of 20.1 GW at the end of 2023. The production of solar photovoltaic electricity increased by 32% compared to the first half. 2021, representing 3.8% of French electricity consumption over the period.