The cost of wind and solar PV continues to fall in France as in the rest of the world. The latest public tenders in France have resulted in a guaranteed price level close to wholesale electricity prices and thus close to the regulated access price to the power generated by the historic power plants (ARENH mechanism).
Despite these cost reductions, renewable energies are not yet in a position to cover their costs entirely from market revenues. For the moment, public support is still needed to ensure their development, although it is expected to stabilize and decrease in the coming years. Estimating as accurately as possible the medium and long-term public financing needs and integrating these analyses into the development of the national energy programme will contribute to a better governance of the energy transition and possibly to a reassessment of the targets for the development of renewable energies.
To bring more clarity into this debate, Agora Energiewende and IDDRI have developed a tool to calculate the costs and financing requirements for renewable energy in France until 2040. Based on this tool, Agora Energiewende and IDDRI analysed several possible development paths of the French power system and measured their impact on the need for public support for renewable energies.
Below you will find the corresponding tool as well as the analysis in French for download.