France adds 1.36GW of grid-connected capacity in the first half of 2021

    According to the latest data from the French Ministry of Ecological Transformation (MTE), in the first half of 2021, 1367MW of new solar Household Solar Lighting System photovoltaic power plants in France will be connected to the grid.

    This result shows that growth has accelerated compared with previous years, and also represents a new growth unprecedented in France. In contrast, the newly added photovoltaic installed capacity in the first six months of 2020 was 431MW, while the level in the same period in 2019 was also 431MW.

    According to MTE, the reasons for this increase include both the increase in the number of grid connections and the increase in the proportion of utility-scale photovoltaic power plants. In fact, approximately 66% of the new grid-connected power generation comes from installations of 250 kilowatts or more that account for less than 1% of the new grid-connected power. Almost 83% are small devices below 9 kilowatts, which account for about 7% of the new capacity.

    From January to June 2021, due to the higher solar radiation intensity in March and April, solar photovoltaic power generation will reach approximately 7.6 TWh, compared to approximately 6.8 TWh in the same period in 2020. This result accounts for about 3.1% of France's electricity consumption, slightly higher than the 3% a year ago.

    In terms of spontaneous self-use, a large part of the 22.4% of the photovoltaic installations (12.8% of installed capacity) in the French mainland are for self-use. Compared with the previous quarter, the proportion of these devices increased by one percentage point. In the second quarter of 2021, the self-generated electricity consumption of photovoltaic power generation was 158GWh.

    From a geographical perspective, in the first half of 2021, about 69% of the new grid-connected electricity in the French mainland will be concentrated in the New Aquitaine, Occitane, Great East, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Region and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.