French Wind Power Capacity Seen Overtaking UK, Spain

France is set to become Europe’s second biggest generator of electricity from wind power behind Germany by 2030, overtaking the UK and Spain thanks to policies being put in place by the current government, according to an industry association.

WindEurope’s CEO Giles Dickson told a conference in Paris on Wednesday that France’s outlook for offshore and onshore wind power projects was the best in Europe, Reuters reported.

“France is number four in terms of installed capacity. We estimate that by 2030, thanks to the policies of the current government, France will overtake the United Kingdom and Spain in terms of installed capacity,” he said.

“From where we are sitting in Brussels, and looking at what is happening across Europe, the outlook for France is maybe the most positive that we are observing.”

Dickson said the forecast suggested that wind’s share of French electricity generating capacity would be above 25% in 2030, and if all goes well, France would become second in Europe behind Germany. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to increase the share of renewable generation in the French electricity mix by launching a tender competition for 26 gigawatts of renewables capacity during his first term so as to curb France’s dependency on nuclear power.