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France grid-connected solar PV capacity increases by 177% year on year.
- The increase was bolstered by the addition of larger power plants.
- Solar PV contributed 1.4 per cent of France electricity demand in Q1 2021.
France’s total grid-connected solar PV capacity reached 11.53GW at the end of the first quarter of 2021. New capacity additions in the quarter totalled 546MW. France added about 13,300 new PV installations, according to data from the French energy ministry’s Department of Data and Statistical Studies (SDES). The additions represented a 177 per cent rise from Q1 2020 when only 197 MW of solar plants were added to the grid.
The government noted that the increase is partly due to the connection of larger power plants. 63 per cent of the total capacity came from installations larger than 250kW. The New Aquitaine and Occitanie regions accounted for the highest number of new connections with 180 MW and 110 MW of the total installed capacity, respectively.