France Solicits Bids for Solar Projects; Six Additional Calls Planned in 2012-13

摘要

The French government Aug. 1 published specifications for a first call for project bids in a program aimed at boosting the country's technological and business capacity to produce electricity from solar panels while reducing the sector's reliance on government subsidies. The new specifications describe project requirements for sites with capacity ranging from 100 kilowatt peak (kWp) to 250 kWp, which is equivalent to about 1,000 to 2,500 square meters (10,760 to 26,910 square feet) of panels. Under a new regulatory structure announced in March, sites under 100 kWp in capacity continue to get above-market rates for electricity they produce, although the government is reducing these rates quarterly to account for drops in equipment prices (34 INER 273,3/16/11).