France submits final updated NECP

: Electricity
24/07/11

France this week submitted the final version of its national energy and climate plan (NECP) for 2021-30 to the European Commission, putting an emphasis on its low-carbon energy targets.

According to the NECP, France aims to bring its installed onshore wind capacity to 33-35GW, while offshore wind capacity should reach 3.6GW by 2030. Those targets were unchanged from the previous version of the NECP.

The French government has not communicated on the share of renewable sources in final energy consumption, despite the EU's renewable energy directive (RED III) setting a 42.5pc target. Instead, it set a "low-carbon share", including nuclear and renewable sources, which would stand at 58pc by 2030, members of energy minister Roland Lescure's cabinet told Argus. This comes as the French Senate's electricity commission in its report last week questioned the EU renewable targets and also advocated for low-carbon targets instead.

The European commission earlier this year recommended that France should bring its renewable target to 44pc. In comparison, renewables represented 22.2pc of overall energy consumption in 2023.

The final updated NECP was due by the end of June but the government failed to submit it on time because of the political context and the snap parliamentary elections, Lescure's cabinet said.

By Tatiana Serova

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