France awards nearly 1GW onshore wind across 54 projects

The tender allocated new onshore wind capacity in almost every region of France and saw 931MW awarded out of a total of around 1.6GW that was available according to analysis from French renewables consultancy firm Envinergy. Overall, 54 bids were awarded tender for onshore wind projects out of a total of 101 submissions. 

The French ministry of energy transition confirmed the average price for energy allocated across the winning projects was €86.94/MWh. 

The ministry said it was the third fully subscribed renewable energy auction in the country in 2023 after around 1GW of wind and 1.5GW of solar projects were awarded in tenders earlier this year. The next onshore wind tender opens on 4 December with 925MW of capacity up for tender.

Three regions secure half tendered capcity

Envinergy said that three regions secured 56% of the total capacity awarded. They were Nouvelle Aquitaine in the southwest (12 projects, 226MW), Grand Est in the northeast (7 projects, 187MW), and its neighbour Haut de France in the north (7 projects, 111MW). 

The largest winners in the tender included French energy major RWE, French utility EDF, and a joint venture between French OEM Calyce with Belgian energy company TTR. 

The ministry said the latest tender results would help the country transition off fossil fuels in line with its climate goals, which include a renewable energy production target of 40% by 2030. 

The country currently has around 21.7GW of wind energy capacity installed at present, most of which is onshore, according to Windpower Intelligence, the data and research division of Windpower Monthly.