On the economic menu, no big contracts, but the signing of several agreements in the energy sector, while at the same time, South Africa is preparing to restart its nuclear program. The two countries signed a roadmap to establish a bilateral working agreement on these issues. “These agreements place energy at the heart of the [...]

The location of wind farms is not always well received by local residents and, more often than not, they create opposition which leads to delays in construction. Convinced of their usefulness and profitability, the company president Gironde Valorem, Jean-Yves Grandidier, has thought about solutions for wind energy to generate wealth locally. Local authorities or semi-public [...]

The end of the moratorium on photovoltaic tariffs, which was decided on last December, is approaching. Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced that manufacturers wishing to build plants on the ground or on larger areas of panels will have to answer calls for tenders. Individuals and small projects will see their tariff reduced by 20% in [...]

After three sessions of discussion among solar industry professionals and governments, no consensus has been reached. The negotiations are supposed to end Feb. 11th. The government officials have repeated the same credo that they expressed during the last meeting, namely “a roadmap of 500 MW production per year ” in order to not exceed the [...]

Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed the launch of a call for offers of 3,000 megawatts for offshore wind in the second quarter of 2011. This project will require an investment of around 10 billion euros. The Head of State said that the tender had been delayed so that “the industrial sector is ready. ” A budget [...]

Segolene Royal calls for the withdrawal of the moratorium on public funding. The Minister of Ecology estimated that it was not possible to publish a partial decision and reminded professionals that the government’s goal is to create an industrial sector. The rate of photovoltaic has taken a political turn. After protests from the industry, the [...]

The report of the National Energy Ombudsman (Denis Merville) concerning the procedures for billing and claims processing for energy providers was transmitted yesterday to the Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, Eric Besson. This report includes more than thirty recommendations in order to improve consumer information and the processing of their claims. Eric [...]

Two recent conferences have focused on energy efficiency. At a political or a technical level, they both show that this is a hot topic. Energy efficiency is on everyone’s lips now. Praised as she had not been in years, it now appears prominently in every speech, like the one the EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger [...]

Given the power of German industry and the promises of the British market, France must play the innovation card. Offshore will soon be the main source of the European Wind Power. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), estimates that the annual installed onshore wind capacity should begin to decline in 2020 to be overtaken by the installed capacity at [...]

The target set by the three Ministers of Ecology, Finance and Energy is to have a proposal by mid-February. This would bring a new regulation for the photovoltaic industry and the development of a plan to bring out the most innovative photovoltaic and environmentally efficient technologies. The actors of the industry fear that, in practice, [...]