Just three quarters of auctioned capacity taken up in French onshore wind tender

Only 510.3MW out of the 700MW of capacity available at France’s latest onshore wind auction was allocated at the average tariff of 59.52€/KWh, with 32 winners out of the 37 projects submitted.

The results of the first tender auction under France’s multi-year energy plan, the so-called PPE2, confirm a leading role for utilities — capturing more than a third of total capacity — according to financial advisory firm Envinenergy.

Out of the 17 bidders that won awards, three — Aupiac, Innergex and GE Energy — were first-time winners.

The regions of Hauts de France (191.9MW) in the north and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (94.4MW) in the south-west captured 56% of the capacity, with 18 projects between them.

The new projects must be constructed within the next three years and achieve full commissioning by March 2025, unless they are delayed by litigation during the permitting process.

A total of 612MW was submitted, but under tender rules the 20% most expensive bids were eliminated, leading to awards for 510.3MW.

Developers can only bid when they have obtained building permits, which is partly causing the auctions to go undersubscribed, according to Envinenergy.

France’s previous onshore wind tender saw just 57% of capacity being awarded.

Aggregate summary

According to analysis by Envinenergy, a total of 199 projects for a total capacity of 4,160MW have been awarded in the nine French tenders so far.

Axpo-Volkswind, EDF Renewables and Boralex have won the most capacity, with 452MW, 362MW and 322MW, respectively. Overall, 45 companies have submitted successful bids.

All French regions except Corsica have been involved, with the five regions of Hauts-de-France, Grand-Est, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Centre-Val de Loire and Occitanie together securing 85% of the total capacity awarded.