Electricity in France is becoming greener. At the beginning of this year, French legislation defined a binding legal framework for green energy transition. The so-called “Loi sur la transition énérgetique pour la croissance verte” now allows plant operators not only to sell their electricity to local grid operators on a wholesale basis, but also to market directly to French renewable energy traders at the electricity exchange.

With the “Energy Transition Law for Green Growth”, the French government is providing strong incentives for the transformation of the energy system. The clear operational framework now makes it possible to submit binding offers for direct marketing in France. The clear objective is to transition away from nuclear power towards renewable energies.

Ambitious goals for a green energy system:

The government is committed to this law which contains different goals regarding direct marketing in France. Amongst other objectives, the proportion of nuclear energy in the electricity mix is to be reduced to 50 percent by 2025 – at present it is still 75 percent. In addition, renewable energies are to cover a share of 32 percent of final energy consumption by 2030.

The government also intends to bundle the flexibility of networked decentralised systems in order to bring them to the grid. These goals are ambitious – the proportion of renewable energies in France is only around five percent at present. But it shows a clear trend –electricity in Europe will be greener, and within a very short time.

A first call for tender for photovoltaics:

Last year marked the first call for tender for ground-mounted photovoltaic plants in France, with a market premium for direct marketing. This is for a total volume of 3,000 megawatts, and will be awarded in six bidding periods each of 500 megawatts. The maximum permissible power output per project has thus been raised from the previous 12 to 17 megawatts.

A part of this is attributable to installations such as those located on carports, another to ground-mounted plants, which are predominantly installed in France. Up to now, however, there has been no funding instrument to push direct marketing. But with the introduction of direct marketing in France with a market premium for photovoltaics, this has now changed.

Direct marketing in France with market premium:

Key criteria in the selection of projects, alongside the offered price, also include environmental sustainability and carbon dioxide balances. In the case of ground-mounted plants, the offered price will initially be weighted with 65, later with 70 points – which therefore influences selection more strongly.

The difference between the market price offered and the market price realised is used as a basis for calculating the market premium, as long as the electricity is supplied to the market through direct marketing. This has given the green light for the direct marketing of PV power in France.

Differences between Germany and France:

This form of direct marketing is complemented by an accompanying market premium, and thus largely corresponds to the German market premium model. There are also differences, however, for example in the case of negative prices at the electricity exchange. The French market premium model does not provide for any payments of the premium if negative prices occur.

Likewise, only the average positive spot market prices are taken into account in the calculation of the market reference price.  And in contrast to Germany, remote control of the relevant plants is not mandatory.

Reliable enercast forecasts for France:

The new French laws regarding renewable energies are a major step forward for the European energy transition and are opening up a new market for enercast.

enercast can offer reliable and accurate solar as well as wind power forecasts for direct marketing, as the quantity of renewable energy supplied is known beforehand.

In the future, enercast will also provide area forecasts for wind and solar energy and thus support electricity traders and grid operators in the direct marketing of wind and solar power in France. After all, it is only possible to trade optimally on the electricity market and to obtain the best prices if you have accurate forecasts!