Wind park connections in France drop to 631.2 MW in 2013

Jan 13, 2014 - Wind turbine grid connections in France fell by 15% to 631.2 MW in 2013, against 741 MW in 2012, and are very much below the level required to achieve the official targets set for 2020, the French wind power federation France Energie Eolienne (FEE) said on Friday.

Last year was the third consecutive year of decline, far from the levels reached in 2010 of 1,257 MW and in 2011 of 830 MW.

Without a significant recovery, the entire industry and its 11,000 jobs are at risk, FEE's president Frederic Lanoe said.

The combine capacity of wind energy installed in France stood at 8,465 MW in 2013, up 8% on the year. In order to reach the target of 19,000 MW by 2020, the country needs to add some 1,300 MW each year. At the current pace, the objective will be achieved only in 2030.

Last year, Danish Vestas (CPH:VWS) was the main wind turbine producer on the French market, with 244 MW and a market share of 39%, followed by German RePower (ETR:RPW), with 21%, German Enercon with 19%, German Nordex (ETR:NDX1) with 9%, Spanish Gamesa (MCE:GAM) with 9% and German Siemens (ETR:SIE) with 3%.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!