France’s ‘last mile’ strategy for renewables under fire from all sides

France’s draft ‘energy sovereignty’ law, recently unveiled by the government, has caused quite a stir for its apparent dismissal of renewable energies, placed at the bottom of the list of low-carbon energies, behind nuclear.

“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have no renewable energy targets in this text,” said the cabinet of the now former Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who has been under attack from all sides since the bill was presented on Monday (8 January).

The bill, which sets out France’s main energy priorities for 2030, has been criticised for neglecting to mention quantified generation targets for renewable energies.

This would be contrary to the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, updated in 2023, which mandates EU countries to reach a collective share of 42.5% for renewables like wind and solar in the bloc’s final energy consumption.

The criticism was firmly rejected by Pannier-Runacher’s office, which insists that the text mentions renewables and even gives them “a crucial role, that of a keystone”.

“Once we have laid all the foundations for the existing sectors [nuclear, etc.], renewable energies will provide the last mile,” it adds.

The “last mile”?

But the ministry’s talk of “the last mile” (“dernier kilomètre” in French) has already drawn criticism.

“This expression is completely crazy, almost comical, and reflects a complete regression in French strategy,” said one of the architects of the 2015 “energy transition” law, which the new energy sovereignty law will at least partially replace.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he told Euractiv France: “You have to choose: either renewables are the ‘keystone’ of the system, or they are an adjustment variable for the electricity system.”

Andreas Rüdinger, energy transition researcher at IDDRI, pointed out in comments for Euractiv that “the term ‘last kilometre’ doesn’t correspond to anything, we’ve never heard the concept anywhere”.

However, the ministry’s message is clear: Renewables such as wind and solar will only complement France’s low-carbon energy mix, which is driven by nuclear and hydroelectric power, according to experts and players in the renewables sector.

In other words, “renewable energies are presented as a simple back-up to nuclear power, rather than as the key element of our sovereignty that they are, whether in the short or long term”, wrote the French renewable energies union SER, which represents more than 500 players in the sector.

“Is the government ashamed of renewables?” the union asked.

Clear figures for nuclear, none for renewables

The draft bill on energy sovereignty states that France’s energy programme “aims to maintain an installed capacity of at least 63 GW”, with nuclear power generating 75% of its capacity by 2030.

By contrast, there are no such figures for renewables in the bill.

As a result, “it may seem surprising to define nuclear development targets to within 0.1 GW and not to include any for renewable energies”, Rudinger noted in comments posted on X.

The government’s projections for nuclear also seem ambitious since they assume maximum availability of France’s current 61.4 GW fleet, as well as the completion of the new reactor at the Flamanville power station, which state-owned power utility EDF says will be up and running in the next few months, after 13 years of delay.

According to the bill, the government’s objective is to “ensure a supply base until 2035, ” by which time EDF has been ordered to have six new reactors up and running.

However, EDF CEO Luc Rémont questioned those objectives, saying in November that they were “very demanding”, but all the more urgent as the advanced age of certain reactors would lead to their closure within the next decade.

Pannier-Runacher herself reminded France Info on Monday (8 January) that “our share of nuclear energy will eventually be reduced mechanically” because of the gradual closure of older reactors and the general increase in electricity production to decarbonise the economy.

This means that to reduce greenhouse gases by “2030 and 2035 […] it is renewables that will make it possible”, the former minister added – but on condition that the “sterile debate […] between renewables and nuclear” is put to rest.

Government urged to explain

Responding to critics, the former minister pointed out that a law was passed in February last year to streamline procedures for the development of renewable energy.

Pannier-Runacher has also repeatedly praised the pace of renewable energy development in France, which she said is similar to that of Germany, often cited as a model in this field.

But these arguments do little to hide another reality: While France refuses to set quantified targets for the share of renewable energy by 2030 – ignoring the EU directive – Germany is aiming for a 40% target, according to its national plan submitted to the European Commission.

“The development of renewable energies is clearly not a priority for the government, which prefers to bet everything on nuclear power,” said French Green MP Lisa Belluco, who was responsible for the February 2023 law on behalf of her party.

“With this strategy, it’s clear that France will not be able to meet its European targets,” she told Euractiv.

Jules Nyssen, president of France’s SER renewable energy union, warned that “the message sent to producers, investors and investors is disastrous”.

“Why should they invest in a country where the development of renewable energy is more complicated than in other countries?” he told Euractiv.

As for EU targets, Nyssen acknowledged that “it will not be easy to reach 44% or 45% of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2030” as recommended for France in the Renewable Energy Directive.

Nevertheless, he added, “it is technically possible, particularly in terms of achieving the target production volume of around 600 TWh.”

“Above all, this creates uncertainty about the level of final energy consumption on the horizon,” he warned.

Nuclear as the baseload

According to Rüdinger, a fundamental question behind the ‘last mile’ expression used by the French government relates to the priority access given to different power sources into the electricity grid.

“Legally, there is no priority for injection into the grid; it’s rather the price signal that indicates which energy is favoured,” he explained.

With its ‘last mile’ approach, the government could rethink this principle to use nuclear power as baseload, and consider that renewables should be adjusted at the margin according to demand, Rüdinger said.

However, “rethinking the optimisation of injection on a systemic scale implies thinking about multiple factors beyond the price signal: fixed costs, type of consumption, transnational exchange capacities, etc.” he added.

In the last few days, the draft law has been examined by various consultative bodies, as it is due to be presented to the Council of Ministers at the end of January or early February and then debated in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, Nyssen appealed to new French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday to resume negotiations on the text.

Cover photo: French Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher herself reminded France Info on Monday (8 January) that "our share of nuclear energy will eventually be reduced mechanically" because of the gradual closure of older reactors and the general increase in electricity production to address the climate change threat. EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET [EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET]