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Second wind auction undersubscribed in France

The French government has awarded 118 MW to five projects in its second onshore wind auction, which is less than one-fourth of the 500 MW offered capacity. The winners include in particular Boralex (49.5 MW), RES (24 MW), Elicio (31.05 MW) and Engie (13.8 MW). The selected projects also include the extension of an existing wind park and two repowering jobs. Permitting has slowed down due to a court decision from December 2017.



The last auction of the same kind took place in February 2018 and the average weighted price was €65.4/MWh, which is around 9% lower than the onshore wind feed-in tariffs (€72/MWh).



The third onshore wind power auction has been pushed back by four months to April 2019. These bidding rounds are part of a series of 500 MW auctions planned by the French government every six months, so as to deploy 3,000 MW of onshore wind capacity in three years. These tenders will help France to achieve a 32% renewables share by 2030.