France’s fifth ground-mounted PV auction ends with 118 winners

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The 3GW ground-mounted auction programme supports PV with premium tariffs (Credit: Neoen)

France’s fifth major auction for ground-mounted PV has concluded with 118 winners, including projects by Engie and Solarcentury.

A spokesperson from the French Environment Ministry confirmed that 855MW in volumes had been processed at the auction of late February 2019, aimed at ground-mounted projects in the 500kW-30MW capacity region.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

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

The average price across all auction bids was €62.7/MWh, a 3% rise on the number recorded last year. Split between capacity brackets, mean prices reached €56.8/MWh (5-30MW projects) and €63.8/MWh (500kW-5MW).

The list of tender winners includes Solarcentury’s first ever projects in France – with planned capacities of 30MW, 17MW and 10MW – and a 20.26MW PV park by Engie in the Sonne department, south of Paris.

France’s ground-mounted PV programme launched in August 2016, with plans to tender 3GW throughout six 500MW exercises in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The scheme is designed to support winners through a premium tariff, which they receive on top of power sale revenues.

The winners of the first auction were revealed in March 2017, followed by similar announcements for the second (July 2017), third (February 2018) and fourth tender (August 2018).

As of September 2018, metropolitan France was home to 8.4GWc in installed PV capacity. Aside from ground-mounted PV, the country runs separate auction schemes for rooftop solar, solar-plus-storage, self-consumption and more innovative technologies such as floating solar.

See here for the full list of auction winners and here for more information on the Solarcentury projects, as reported by sister publication Solar Power Portal

Read Next

October 14, 2025
The curtailment of solar PV and wind capacity in Chile has reached 3.2TWh as of August 2025, a slight increase from the same period in 2024.
Premium
October 14, 2025
OCI Holdings’ decision this week to buy a Vietnamese solar wafer facility to supply the US solar cell manufacturing industry makes clear the biggest vulnerability facing the sector today.
October 14, 2025
German IPP wpd has started construction at its 140.6MW Marcy solar park in the Nièvre department of central France.
October 14, 2025
Levanta Renewables will develop a 166MWp ground-mounted solar and storage project in the Visayas Islands as part of the Philippines’ Fourth Green Energy Auction. 
October 14, 2025
India has installed 4.9GW of residential rooftop solar capacity in the first half of 2025, according to a report by IEEFA and JMK Research.
October 14, 2025
Apple will support 650MW of projects as part of a major expansion of its renewable energy investments in Europe, aimed at reducing its carbon footprint.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK