The French Senate approved a bill requiring parking lots with between 80 and 400 spaces to install at least half of their area, roofs with solar panels.
The government says the scheme, intended primarily for off-road and off-road parking, could generate up to 11 gigawatts, the equivalent of 10 nuclear reactors.
In addition to solar parking lots, the French government is also considering building large solar parks on vacant land. next to roads, railways and agricultural areas. National rail operator SNCF also plans to install more than one million square meters of solar panels by 2030, in an effort to reduce energy purchases, which have become increasingly expensive today as much of Europe relies on Russian gas.
The investment required for parking operators to install the technology has not yet been fully defined, but strong state financial support is expected.
Why do they do this in France?
At the beginning of this year, President Emmanuel Macron set the goal of multiplying solar energy production tenfold to over 100 GW and build 50 offshore wind farms to add another 40 GW. France currently only generates 25 percent of its electricity with renewable energy.a fairly low percentage compared to its European neighbours.
Added to that, it has also seen delays in repairs to nuclear power plants, causing the state power company EDF to cut planned output, exacerbating the aforementioned power supply problems caused by the war in Ukraine.
Do you think it’s a good measure? Would you like it to be implemented in the country??