France has brought online 1 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) parks in the first quarter of 2024, marking a significant year-on-year increase in new deployments and reaching a cumulative installed capacity of 21.1 GW.
According to data from the French energy ministry's Department of Data and Statistical Studies (SDES), a total of 59,366 solar farms began supplying electricity to the grid from January to March. This new capacity of 1,013 MW represents a substantial increase from the 639 MW commissioned in the same period last year.
Of the newly-connected plants, approximately one-third, totaling 347 MW, have individual capacities ranging from 100 kW to 250 kW, while plants larger than 250 kW accounted for 329 MW of the new deployments. The regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitania, and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes led in quarterly capacity additions, collectively contributing 47% of the total.
The output of France's PV parks reached 4 TWh in the first quarter, up from 3.6 TWh in the same period last year. However, the share of photovoltaics in the national power consumption declined slightly to 2.9%, down from 3.2% in Q1 2023.
As of the end of March, France had 27.3 GW of solar projects in the pipeline, reflecting a 22% increase from the previous year. This total includes 6.3 GW of projects with secured grid-connection agreements.
