The French government has published its latest energy roadmap for the coming years, setting a reduced target of 48GW for solar PV by 2030.
This was included in France’s Multiannual Energy Programme (PPE3) for the period between 2026-2035, which was in the works for the past three years.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
A draft published in March 2025 had forecast that solar PV installations would reach 54GW by 2030, which was, in itself, already a decrease from the 60GW the French government had proposed in its updated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) back in 2023. This represents a 12GW target decrease in less than three years.
As shown in the chart above, the new target set under PPE3 is much closer to France’s older NECP, published in 2019, which forecast 40GW of solar PV by 2030.
In that same draft published last year, the solar PV target for 2035 was also reduced from 100GW to 90GW. In the final version, published last week (in French), the target for 2035 has been set between 55-80GW.
According to the Energy Minister, Roland Lescure, the solar PV target for 2035 would correspond to three-quarters of the country’s data centre needs by then.
Lescure added that the annual auction capacity for solar PV will be set at around 2.9GW starting from this year and that a 300MW tender for commercial rooftop solar will be launched imminently.
The country had cumulatively installed nearly 30GW of solar PV by the end of 2025, indicating that the target is to add, on average, 4.5GW of PV capacity per year until 2030.
According to the French government, the targets set for solar PV in the PPE3 will enable the “emergence of gigafactories for the production of photovoltaic modules and cells” in the country, representing a €1 billion (US$1.18 billion) investment and the creation of 2,000 jobs.
Moreover, the implementation of the PPE3 roadmap aims to create more than 38,000 jobs in the solar PV industry by 2030, second only to nuclear, with 50,000 new jobs. Indeed, the “relaunch” of nuclear energy seems to have taken centre stage in this new programme.
Trade body calls new target a ‘disappointment‘
French trade body Syndicat des énergies renouvelables (SER) said it will be essential to relaunch tender calls very quickly across all solar segments. Regarding the 48GW solar PV target by 2030, the trade body said it “corresponds to a market slowdown over the past two years, but avoids bringing the industry to a standstill”.
Daniel Bour, president of the French solar association, Enerplan, expressed disappointment with the new solar PV targets. “I am disappointed by the volume, which does not meet our expectations and is a decrease compared to the volumes projected at the start of discussions on the PPE.
“We also need to improve the price captured by solar PV through the development of energy storage, whether co-located or not. This undertaking is essential to improving the competitiveness of solar PV,” said Bour.
