France announced three new government solar project auctions in 2020, laying the foundation for a new era of solar energy development.

The two tenders scheduled for January and June 2020 are for terrestrial PV projects. A separate small auction in February was designed to attract rooftop developers to bid.

The ground power station auction projects are 850MW solar system and 1GW solar systems respectively, and the roof auction project is 300MW solar roof system.

The French government signed the 4GW project within two years and completed the final auction of the ground PV project. Since then, the news has been heard less than a month later.

In a news report, Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne said that the three new tenders will increase domestic installed capacity by 20%, helping solar energy become the “pillar” of the French power system.

France hopes to increase the current installed capacity of 9.1GW to 35.6-44.5GW in 2028, which is divided into (20.6-25GW) ground power station projects and (15-19.5GW) roof projects.

In early August, a government spokesperson told PV Tech that France plans to tender 2GW projects each year for the next few years.

So far, France's solar projects have mainly relied on auctions and subsidies, and the rate of signing power purchase agreements is lower than that of non-subsidized hotspots in Spain.

France plans to tender for a 300MW rooftop solar project in October this year.