The take-off of wind energy development in France and the 2005 Energy Law

1. The take-off of wind energy development in France and the 2005 Energy Law EWEC 2006 in Athens policies and programmes - 1 march 2006 Jean-Yves Grandidier France Energie Eolienne

2. Who is France Energie Eolienne ? France Energie Eolienne, also called FEE is an association founded in 1996 with the following main objectives • To provide the authorities, the research and industrial organizations with enlightened assistance in order to develop wind power production on a larger scale • To promote the consumers’ interest towards wind power energy • To create a link between the French and the foreign sectors involved in the development of wind energy

3. Who is France Energie Eolienne ? Some studies and works carried out by our organization • Economical study and suggestions for an acceptable tariff • Definition of a new procedure for the access to the public network together with the grid operator • Study of the credit capacity of a 10 000 MW wind park in France

4. The current situation and a realistic forecast for the next 2 years • With 370 MW installed in 2005, wind capacity has almost doubled in France last year • Forecast of installation • Year 2006 : 700 to 1000 MW • Year 2007 : 1000 to 1500 MW

5. The current situation vs FEE expectations

6. The negative points of the current situation • Disastrous result of the offshore tender : on 500 MW opened and 1100 MW proposed only 100 MW have been selected • french regulator is not ready to pay for offshore learning • Disapointing result of the onshore tender : • On 500 MW opened, only 480 MW proposed • Less than 300 MW selected • Application by the administration of the acoustic regulation is becoming more strict • Since july 2005 Ministry of Defence has forbidden wind park installation in a radius of 30 km around the military radars

7. The positive points of the current situation • The 2003 RTE report about previsions of demand and production balance in 2010 : • Renouvables substitute mainly to conventional fuel or coal plant • The 2005 RTE study about large scale integration of wind : • 10 000 MW give a credit capacity of 3 000 MW • The 2005 RTE report about forecasts of demand and production balance between 2010 and 2020 : 1000 MW of new production capacities are needed each year from 2009 on • With a wind capacity of 10 GW by 2011,Wind can fulfill the requirements of RTE

8. The uncertainties of the current situation : what will be the tariff in the futur ? • Investors are facing a dramatic increase in the price of the turbines • A decrease by 3,3% in constant money + a decrease by 10 % after 1500 MW cannot be accepted • FEE has made proposals for a tariff which comply with the requirements of the law : • Reference site : 6,25 m/s at 80 m hub height • Mechanism of modulation in order to have not an excessive profitability on the windiest sites

9. The uncertainties of the 2005 energy law: how will the ZDE be created (1)? • Driver : to avoid an « anarchic » development of the wind parks from a landscape point of vue • Provision : • introduction of the area for the development of wind energy (ZDE) defined by the prefet on a proposal of the interested local authorities. • These areas are defined according to the wind ressource, the grid capacity and the protection of the landscape • A minimum and maximum power are associated to the proposal of the interested local authorities • When a turbine is located in a ZDE : it is eligible to the administrative tariff

10. The uncertainties of the 2005 energy law : how will the ZDE be created (2)? • The drawbacks of the law • Problem of coherence : instead of acting on the land planning law, the law acts on the electric law. • Grid capacity is a prerequisit to define a ZDE. • This tool cannot be used for planification of the development of the transmission grid • Lack of precision

11. Thank you for your attention