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Cumulative installed PV capacity in France reached 3.28GW in the second quarter of 2012, up by 9.2% compared with the first quarter of this year, according to statistics from French grid operators ErDF and EDF SEI.
During the second quarter of this year, 254MW of PV capacity was connected in mainland France, down by 27.5%. The statistics indicate that installed PV capacity has been falling since September 2011. In the fourth quarter of 2011, 372.3MW of installed capacity was connected and in the first quarter of 2012, 350.7MW of PV capacity was installed.
In French territory outside of the mainland including Corsica, it connected 362MW of installed PV capacity during the second quarter of 2012, an increase of 6.8%
Despite the declining figures in mainland France, France’s new president, Francois Hollande, has been pushing its plans to increase renewable energy generation. At the end of July, Delphine Batho, the new minister for ecology, sustainable development and energy, announced the results of two tenders for solar plants which are expected to generate a cumulative investment of nearly €1 billion within the next two years.
