France accelerates the transition to renewables with a new plan

On Tuesday, French legislators moved forward with new legislation that aims to accelerate the implementation of renewable energy sources in the country.

The move comes as the country faces a maintenance crisis in its nuclear plants, as well as an increase in energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Emmanuel Macron’s minority administration received rare support from the left-wing parties, which would help lower obstacles to the construction of new solar and wind plants, including large offshore wind farms.

The goal of the bill is to build 50 offshore wind plants by 2050 and to increase solar capacity by 10 to reach 100 gigawatts of electricity.

The draft law was supported by 286 MPs, while 238 voted against it during the first reading of the bill, which was done via paper slips due to technical issues with the electronic voting system.