The French government recently allocated 912MWp of solar PV in its latest ground-mounted solar tender, which concluded this week.

The fifth phase of the government's PPE2 tender (Programmation Pluriannuelle de l’Energie) distributed the capacity among 92 projects, almost reaching the full 925MW maximum capacity offered. Successful projects in the fifth round achieved an average tariff of €81.90/MWh (US$89.22) and were eligible for capacities ranging from 500kWp to 30MWp. The capacity limit was raised for projects proposed on degraded lands, such as brownfield industrial sites or quarries.

A total of 34 developers were awarded capacity, with 21 of them receiving less than 20MWp, as reported by French financial services company Finergreen. French utility EDF secured the largest share at 21% with 191.4MWp, followed by Neoen at 13% with 118.9MWp, and Urbasolar with 78.3MWp, representing 9% of the total capacity.

The most significant projects in this round were both led by EDF: the 69MWp Centrale Photovoltaïque de Variscourt in Hauts-de-France and the 45MWp Centrale Photovoltaïque flottante du Cheylas in the southern region, which is a floating solar installation at a pumped energy transfer station.

Throughout all five rounds of the PPE2 scheme up to now, EDF and Neoen have been the main beneficiaries, securing 477MWp and 479MWp, respectively, since the scheme began in 2022.

According to Finergreen's analysis of the tender, the average price in this auction round confirms the stabilization trend of PPE2 auctions. The first round in March 2022 closed with an average of €58.80/MWh (US$64.08), which increased to €82.20/MWh (US$89.57) by round three in April 2023. Since then, rounds three, four, and five have closed within €0.50 of each other.

This auction, the most significant state auction for solar PV in France's history, saw 129 successful projects awarded, marking a more than tenfold increase compared to the 115MW awarded in round three of PPE2.

The fourth round was notably large due to the significant undersubscription of the third round.

A significant change between rounds four and five is the geographical distribution of awarded capacity. The latest tender witnessed bids shifting southward, with 43% of the capacity awarded in southern regions. Finergreen noted that southern France had never received more than a 33% share since the PPE2 ground-mount tenders began.

This shift is linked to a decrease in the average project size compared to round four, dropping from 11.8MWp to 9.9MWp. This change may have favored southern regions where there is higher pressure on available land. PV Tech reported on discussions from the Solar Finance and Investment Europe 2024 event earlier this year, highlighting the competition solar projects face for usable land in France.