Inside French Wind: Rebound in French wind in 2014

France installed 1,042 MW of wind farms in 2014, up from just 630 MW in 2013 and marking the highest annual installation level since 2011, according to data by France's Wind Energy Association (FEE).

The new facilities, which brought the country’s installed wind capacity to over 9,000 MW, required a total investment of approximately EUR 1.5 billion (USD 1.73bn), FEE member Sonia Lioret noted. Annual capacity additions in 2014 surpassed by far annual figures between 2011 and 2013, but remained below the record of 1,247 MW from 2009.

Most of the installed turbines in 2014, or 37%, were manufactured by Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS). According to FEE, the Danish company has equipped 382,57 MW of new wind farms in France over the past year. Germany’s Enercon GmbH ranked second by supplying 22% of the total, followed by Senvion SE, which was responsible for 19%. In other words, they delivered 224,45 MW and 196,8 MW of turbines, accordingly.

France aims to reach 40 GW of onshore and 15 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 to meet 20% of its power needs with wind.

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