French Lawmakers Reject a Moratorium on Solar and Wind Projects

An engineer from Eiffage SA carries out maintenance on the electrical wiring for a line of photovoltaic panels at the Cestas Solar Park, operated by Neoen SA, a unit of Impala SAS, in Cestas, France, on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. The EU has put in place a number of emergency measures over the last year to help weather the unprecedented electricity price surge, including a temporary price cap on gas and new rules to spur the roll-out of renewables. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg Photo by Nathan Laine /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — France’s lower house of Parliament rejected an energy-planning bill that would have imposed a moratorium on new solar and wind projects.

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The National Assembly’s vote Tuesday is a relief for renewable-energy developers and President Emmanuel Macron, who aims to fight global warming and reduce France’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. The government plans to subsidize the construction of new nuclear reactors, swathes of renewable power and green fuels projects, and the adoption of electric cars and heat pumps.  

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“This rejection was necessary” as the bill was “economically devastating for our territories,” Industry and Energy Minister Marc Ferracci told the lower house after 377 lawmakers opposed the bill and 142 lawmakers voted in favor of it. “The heading of the government remains to decarbonize our economy” using “a balanced energy mix” between nuclear and renewable energies. 

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The Senate is due to start a second reading of the energy-planning bill from July 8. The initial version of the law adopted by the upper house last year largely preserved the government’s ambition to boost renewables, while setting higher targets for new nuclear plant construction. Whether the government will ultimately find a compromise with the upper and lower houses remains unclear.   

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A moratorium on new renewables projects would have endangered €5 billion ($5.8 billion) of solar and wind projects that French utility Engie SA is considering over the next 10 years, Chief Executive Officer Catherine MacGregor said on Monday. It would jeopardize tens of thousands of jobs, Jules Nyssen, the president of renewable trade lobby Syndicat des Energies Renouvelables, has said.

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The energy-planning bill, which was initially backed by Macron’s government, was amended with the moratorium by lawmakers of Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration party and some conservative legislators last week. Proponents of the moratorium, who blame solar and wind projects for boosting energy prices, had benefited from a low attendance in the house from lawmakers on the center and left wing, according to Ferracci.

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Macron’s government has been forced to seek compromises in Parliament after a snap election last summer fractured the National Assembly into three roughly equal blocs. Earlier this month, the government was dealt a blow when the Parliament canceled a law on so-called low-emission zones, which ban the most polluting cars from centers of France’s largest cities.  

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