France must catch up with its neighbors in electricity production from wind power. The government wants the capacity of onshore wind turbines to double by 2028, to 33 gigawatts (GW). In the next fifteen years, there will be added several offshore wind farms representing a production capacity of more than 10 GW, the equivalent of ten nuclear reactors. If France has the second largest wind farm in Europe after Great Britain, its installed capacity (16.5 GW at the end of 2019) places it in 4th place, far behind Germany and its 61 GW.
Read also: French wind power is gradually increasing
Wind remains a minor source of electricity in France. 8,000 wind turbines generated 34.1 terawatt hours of electricity last year, or 7.2% of consumption.
Manufactured by five foreign groups
Since the takeover of Alstom by GE, no French company manufactures wind turbines. More than 90% of the country's capacities were manufactured by five foreign groups: the Danish Vestas, the German Enercon and Senvion and the Spanish Acciona and Siemens
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