France's Ministry of Ecological Transition has published the results for the second round of a technologically neutral tender for hydro, wind, and solar power projects.

CRE, the French regulator, allocated 512.8 MW in the tender, choosing 34 projects, including four wind farms and 30 ground-mounted PV projects ranging from 500 kW to 30 MW.

Cconsulting firm Finergreen said that 14 developers won projects. French utility EDF led with 111.8 MW, or 22% of the total volume. This is mainly due to the 108 MW Elément Air Rattaché (EAR) solar plant in Chateaudun, which will be built on 83 hectares.

Neoen came second with 104 MW, broken down into four projects ranging from 14.4 MW to 30 MW, with commissioning to take place between 2025 and 2028. Three of the projects are agrivoltaic installations on farms.

BayWa re came third with 77 MW. It was followed by Urbasolar (44.4 MW), Enertrag (39.9 MW), Générale du Solaire (23 MW), Sipenr (22.3 MW), TotalEnergies (21.7 MW). Finally, below 20 MW, we find Corsica Sole, RWE (with 11 MW in wind technology and 4 MW in solar), Nouvergies, ib vogt, Voltalia and Elements.

Finergreen reports a trend toward an evenly distributed allocation of ground-mounted solar projects, with the southernmost regions securing only 17% of the total capacity (87 MW). Centre-Val de Loire leads with 38% (193 MW), followed by Grand-Est with 14% (71 MW), and Hauts-de-France with 39.9 MW.

While the maximum price was set at €90/MWh, the average price for this period is €85.19/MWh. This is a significant increase compared to the first round, the results of which were communicated in December 2022, for a price of €76.89/MWh.

The deadline for the next period is Aug. 9, 2024, for 500 MW. With PV, 70% of the score corresponds to the price, 16% to the carbon footprint, 9% to the environmental impact and 5% to crowdfunding.