Green electricity: France's projects

This series of short articles reviews the different projects that French authorities have recently launched concerning the development of renewable energies. About 4000 new wind turbines will be installed by 2010, it will represent 20 times the installed capacity of today (400 MW). An invitation to tender has been made for the supplying of 12 MW turbines that could be installed on land or at sea. As for solar energy, the production of electricity has been multiplied by 3 in the last 5 years to reach a total installed capacity of 22 MW. French authorities expect a doubling of the installed capacity of electricity generation from bio-energy in order to reach 350 MW by 2007. Geothermal energy is mostly used to contribute to urban heating systems, today's installed capacity is 1 GW. The generation of electricity from hot underground water requires more research work and long-term investment. If the technological choices turn out to be correct, a few tens of adequate sites will be equipped, each one generating about 50 MW of electrical power. 15% of the electricity produced in France come from the energy stored in huge water reservoirs behind dams, most of which were built more than 50 years ago. In a recent past France has turned to the construction of small hydro-energy units producing less than 10 MW, today about 1800 units are operating generating 2 GW. A further potential of 1 GW has been identified but environmental constraints may limit it. (A.C.)