AREVA Solar has been awarded the "Excellence Award 2012" by the Energy and Environment Foundation (E2 Foundation) during a ceremony at the World Renewable Energy Technology Congress & Expo-2012 held in New Delhi, India. The award, whose selection was conducted by a committee of high-ranking stakeholders in the India energy sector, including two former secretaries to the country’s government, recognizes AREVA Solar for its "excellence, innovation, technology and investment in the Renewable Energy sector." AREVA was recently awarded a contract by Reliance Power to build a 250 megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power (CSP) installation in India, which will become the largest in all of Asia. The project, which will deploy AREVA’s CLFR solar thermal technology, will help advance India’s goal of adding 20 000 MW of solar energy by 2022 and avoid approximately 557 000 tons of CO2 emissions per year compared to a similar sized coal-fired power plant. When completed, the project’s annual energy production will generate enough power for more than 365,000 people in India. In total, AREVA Solar currently has more than 500 MW of Concentrating Solar Thermal Power projects in operation, under construction or in advanced development around the world, making AREVA one the fastest-growing CSP technology providers. For more information: www.solar.areva.com

  The 6 MW Haliade 150 wind turbine has been developed in response to a call for tenders launched by the French government in July 2011 that aims to install 3 GW of wind turbine power off French shores by 2015. In preparation for its certification, the first turbine will undergo a series of year-long tests on land at the Carnet site in France, before a second turbine is placed in the sea off the Belgian coast in autumn 2012. Pre-series production is planned for 2013 with production in series due to start in 2014.   Carnet site was chosen by Alstom, on the shores of the estuary near Saint-Nazaire, because of characteristics that are very similar to the offshore environment in which the turbines will eventually be installed. The Haliade’s 25 meters jacket sub-structure was installed on pillars driven more than 30 meters into the ground on which the 75 meters high tower was then mounted. The nacelle soars over the landscape 100 meters above the ground. The wind turbine and its support structure have a total combined weight of 1 500 tons.   Alstom is the exclusive supplier to a consortium led by EDF Energies Nouvelles which includes the Danish Dong Energy, as well as the developers Nass & Wind and Wpd Offshore. If the consortium’s response to the tender is successful, Alstom plans to establish up to 4 factories to produce components for these offshore wind turbines and for their assembly, in the port areas of Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) for the nacelles and alternators, and in Cherbourg (Manche) for the blades and towers. These French sites will be dedicated entirely to offshore wind power and will permit the creation of 5 000 permanent qualified jobs, including 1 000 direct jobs.   These French sites will be the first Alstom sites in the world entirely dedicated to offshore wind power.

  The launch of France Energies Marines   FRANCE ENERGIES MARINES has been awarded funding by the French State under the “Investments for the future” programme for Institute of Excellence for Carbon-free Energy (IEED).  Francois Fillon, Prime Minister of France, announced that France will now have a Research Institute dedicated to Marine Renewable Energy (MRE).    In the field of Marine Renewable Energies (MRE), the huge natural potential in both metropolitan and overseas France can help meet the energy demand in mainland and island shore areas. This potential is backed up by a sound industrial and scientific maritime and energy sector base, bringing the challenges into the economic arena by developing a supply chain that creates jobs and can take the lead in a global market. FRANCE ENERGIES MARINES thus embodies the will expressed by the French State in 2009 to create a national technological platform for marine renewable energies, designed to bolster this ambition. The proposed organisation is also the outcome of a dynamic partnership set up on the basis of demonstration projects of various energy harnessing devices at sea, as well as prospective study approaches to determine how the market will evolve, technological obstacles, criteria for environmental integration and compatibility of uses.   France has undeniable resources at its disposal, including thermal energy from the sea, offshore wind farms, energy from currents, waves and tides. At 11 million square kilometers the country’s marine area is the second largest in the world.   Written by Agathe Damour

    French consumers will face higher electricity prices in 2012 due to necessary investments in maintenance to their ageing power grid,  increments on the contributions to the renewable energy fund (CESP), safety upgrades in their 58 nuclear reactors mandated by the Nuclear Safety Authority, after the disaster of the Fukushima plant in Japan, the ARENH mechanism, that forces Electricité de France (EDF) to sell a quarter of its nuclear output to its competitors, and the yearly inflationary adjustment that hovers just below 3%; all this factors will add up to an annual increase of 6%, that would be maintained until 2016, explained Philippe De Ladoucette, head of the Commission of Energy Regulation. He warned that the increase could reach a 30% over the same period, if changes to the current regulatory framework governing energy prices are not enacted.   With an upcoming presidential election in April - May, the French Government is under political pressure to keep prices low to consumers that already have been hit with recent increases in other sources of energy. Other factors would likely push prices up, like pressures from Brussels on the French Government end with state controlled tariffs that keep electricity prices approximately 30% lower than their neighbors; or the possible shut down of the oldest nuclear plants in the county, already scheduled as part of a phase-off policy, supported by the opposition, but resisted by the UMP government. The increasing prices would likely be off-putting to the 35 million French households (60% of the population) that have shifted to electricity only power.   Written by Agathe Damour ( agathe.damour.int@ubifrance.fr )

  Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (Electricity Transmission Network), usually known as RTE, is the electricity transmission system operator of France . It is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the French high-voltage transmission system, which at approximately 100,000 kilometers, the largest in Europe.  RTE has released a report on its 2011 results. It presents the relations and impact that a diverse set of contingencies had in the yearly output of the French electric production and its allocation in the domestic and international market. a) Climate.  According to “Météo-France”, after an exceptionally cold year in 2010, 2011 registered the warmest temperatures since 1900; the mild winter weather decreased internal consumption in France by 6.8% with respect to 2010. Despite the seasonal negative impact, in domestic consumption and a shared downward trend the demand of the industrial sector during the summer, overall internal demand increased by 0.8% in 2011. b) Technical. The Power Park Station, continued to grow due to investment in electric-heolic production; newly developed wind farms had an output of 6,640 MW at the end of 2011, which represents a 15% increase over the previous year. Renewable energy production (excluding hydro) grew 26.4%. Nuclear production’s 3.2% increase the spike in renewable energy production helped offset a 25.6% negative output by the hydroelectric sector that had to endure drought conditions due to warm temperatures. c) European Market exchanges of electricity with neighboring countries have been stimulated and affected by different factors, like decreases in demand and the halt of seven nuclear reactors in Germany were closed. Contrary to 2010, Belgium, Spain and Germany the France’s position is one of importer, however the international trade balance increased by 89% matching record levels registered in 2007. In this environment, during 2012, RTE will continue to increase its investment by 18% with respect to 2011, trying to surpass 2011 historical levels. RTE will pursue an industrial policy in the coming years to accommodate new production facilities (including offshore wind farms), and will develop interconnection capacity with neighboring countries and enhance security of supply in several regions, including the PACA Region and Brittany. Agathe Damour (Assistant trade attaché)                                    

The Renewable Energy Exhibition, EnR is widely recognised as one of France’s most important renewable energy events, attracting a large numbers of professionals, leading experts. The conference and exhibition will take place in Paris, from the 3 rd to 5 th April 2012. The conference will cover the topics like photovoltaic, solar thermal, wood energy, CO 2 , sustainable building, investments and energy efficiency. EnR Paris 2012 brings to you: -           Architects and technical design offices -           Buyers: promoters, local authorities, social landlords -           Specialists: HVAC engineering, electrical engineering -           General builders: contractors, main fabric builders, private home builders -           Distributors: importers, wholesalers, DIY chains   In 2011, the Renewable Energy Exhibition celebrated its 10 th edition with companies’ leaders in this sector . They were more than 500 international companies’ exhibitor and it attracted more than 31,000 visitors. Do not miss this unique opportunity to do business with French companies participated at this event.  For more information about this exhibition, please click on the following link: http://www.energie-ren.com/exhibition/about-enr/about-enr

The French transmission network has released statistics of electricity in France for the year 2010: consumption, production, loss, and exports and imports are scrutinized.   While in 2009, the electricity consumption fell by almost 2%, it is rising again in 2010. Compared to the previous year, consumption rose by 5.5% to 513.2 TWh. Taking account the winter and the summer weather, that figure was reduced to 1.9%. Since 2001, the annual energy consumption increased by 14%.   The production of renewable energy up:   Except coal (-7.6%), all other energy sources for electricity generation increased. Nuclear power, the most important source in France has increased its production by 4.6% to 407.9 TWh supplied now. The thermal and hydroelectric power also increased their electricity supply, with respectively 67.6 TWh (+9.2%) and 59.5 TWh (+8.4%)   Regarding the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, earth Wind generation, as no offshore platform is operational, amounted to 9.7 TWh, an increase of nearly 24% in one year. Despite the problems and the crisis caused by the moratorium, the Solar, meanwhile, saw its production fourfold to reach 572 GWh. In total, France provides 15.2 TWh of electricity from renewable resources is still far behind countries like Germany (about 76 TWh).   The growth of renewable energy has unfortunately been unable to prevent a further increase in CO2 emissions (3.4% in 2010).   For more information, please consult the following website: http://www.cre.fr/