World outlook
La Marne, France: With vast, sprawling countryside and powerful prevailing winds, France is estimated to have the second-largest wind power potential in Europe.
In part, the fractured nature of French wind explains its troubles: getting even a small project off the ground means dodging a thunderstorm of local interests, resulting in the average French wind farm taking over six years to get approved. For Monnier, however, this narrowness also offers opportunities. “It’s important to show the concrete benefits of the wind turbines for the territory, in terms of taxes, jobs, employment,” he says. “It’s about human relations and education.” To this end, Monnier and his colleagues at FEE have started publishing forests of information on the advantages of wind, encompassing everything from interviews with mayors to detailed regional statistics on turbines and economic growth.
“The push for climate action is only becoming more evident and more urgent.”
Pierre Tardieu, Wind Europe 76% France Énergie Éolienne 10
People in France with a positive view of turbines, rising to 91% among under-35s.
There are some signs, moreover, that this publicity drive is working. Despite persistent local grumbles, 76% of people in France now have a positive view of turbines, a figure that rises to 91% among under-35s – according to FEE. On a policy level, meanwhile, both Monnier and Tardieu support a simplification of the planning laws. In particular, Tardieu would love to see approval times cut from that six-year average, if only from a technological perspective. The problem, he explains, is that by the time a project is finally authorised, the machinery involved is sometimes defunct. That means new turbines are both less efficient and more expensive than they otherwise could be. Fortunately, Tardieu emphasises that the government is taking these hiccups seriously, digitising the application system and streamlining the regime around legal challenges. Among other things, that could get stealthier turbines online faster, potentially reassuring French generals concerned about blocked radars.
The future in the balance
Though they’re only happening in April 2022, France’s presidential elections are already heating up. President Macron and his rivals to the left and right have started sniping across a number of controversies, from immigration quotas to France’s role in Nato. With years of bickering already behind them, the country’s leaders have also made wind farms a major electoral dispute. Beyond Le Pen’s pledge to crush the industry, several other right-wingers, from Occitanie to the Belgian frontier, have also rallied to the anti-wind standard. At the same time, French senators recently gave mayors the right to veto wind farms in their area. In other words, the results of next year’s ballot could shape France’s wind sector for a generation. So which direction do the experts think the political breeze is blowing? Though he refuses to make any specific predictions – “I famously get it wrong all the time” – Tardieu is “cautiously optimistic” about tomorrow. Though a Le Pen victory would clearly dampen the spirits of wind enthusiasts across France, he believes that the stark consequences of climate change will inevitably carry wind into the public square. As Tardieu puts it, “The push for climate action is only becoming more evident and more urgent.” And as those approval numbers suggest, this is a sector that stridently belongs to the young. Older people may be sceptical about their benefits, but Tardieu underscores that kids like his son see wind turbines as a “natural part” of their country’s landscape. Whoever occupies the Élysée next summer, then, the forecast for France’s wind sector seems sunny. If nothing else, this can be seen in the system of auctions that underpin many of the country’s turbine schemes. Though the process can sometimes be cumbersome, forcing companies to battle over rights encourages low prices. At one recent auction, near Dunkirk, the price cleared just €44/MWh, a figure Tardieu describes as “extremely” competitive. To put that into perspective, he adds, power at the UK’s planned nuclear station at Hinkley Point is predicted to come in at £92.50/MWh (about €107). With figures like that, even impetuous Breton fishermen may find it hard to complain. ●
World Wind Technology /
www.worldwind-technology.com
Altitude Drone/
Shutterstock.com
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