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The
two bodies will now work at reconciling the differences between
the two documents to establish a joint draft proposal that
could be adopted in definitive form before the end of 2001.
The French government has decided not to wait for this outcome,
and has made decisions that should enable France to keep its
commitments, which involve moving up from a 15% share of renewable
energies in electrical consumption in France in 2000 to a
21% share in 2010. According to the most probable scenario
for energy consumption (569 TWh/year in 2010), that would
mean approximately 45 TWh/year of new production from
renewable sources.
The technologies that will be given preference in this effort
are wind power, small hydroelectric plants, bio-electricity
and geothermal energy.
For the first two options, incentive rates were announced
in December 2000 by the Secretary of State for Industry; decisions
concerning the two other options should be made shortly. By
way of example, the proposed rate for wind power could be
0.07 euro/kWh for a site which has an average annual
wind speed of 7 metres per second.
For other speeds, the rate could be adapted to guarantee investors
adequate profitability. Such a measure should stimulate development
in the sector considerably.
Another important decision is the formation of a working group
that would bring together all of the administrative agencies
concerned and ADEME under the guidance of the Ministry of
the Environment and the Secretary of State for Industry, for
the purpose of simplifying the administrative procedures required
for obtaining various authorizations, building permits in
particular.
The third area being worked on involves setting up standards
for a certificate of origin for electricity from renewable
sources.
France will then be ready, when the final directive is approved,
to take responsibility for its commitments, which should result
in investments estimated at approximately euros 12 billion
in less than ten years. In order to manage such ambitious
programmes, the exchange of experiences between European countries
should, more than ever, bring results of high added value,
and ADEME intends to make sure that this is the case.
.
Jean-Louis
Bal
Deputy Director Renewable Energies and Buildings
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