The French government will decrease the costs of connection for small and medium-sized renewable energy facilities and biogas production installations onto the power grids and gas distribution networks by up to 40% and expects to spend about €30m/year to support the national rollout of these installations. So far, only consumers and grid operators benefited from a grid connection discount. The rationale behind the decision is to allow a more balanced renewable energy deployment in the territory and particularly in rural areas located far from the power distribution networks.
Besides, this measure is meant to support the nationwide production of methane (biogas) from animal manures and plant products. Until now, the cost of connection for biogas plants to the natural gas distribution networks were entirely borne by the producers, which could make it impossible for the implementation, biogas projects in rural areas where the methane gas was located too far from the gas network. With the new provision, only 60% of the cost of connecting a biogas plant to the gas grid will be covered by the power producer.
This announcement takes place at the same time as the preparation of the "Great Investment Plan 2018-2022", under which the authorities plan to invest €20bn under the framework of an energy transition plan, including €9bn towards improved energy efficiency, €7bn for renewable energies and €4bn for electric vehicles.