France's renewables growth falling below targets, report says

PARIS (Reuters) - France is falling behind in its plans to boost onshore wind and solar power, the country's annual renewable electricity report published on Tuesday showed.

The share of renewables in France's electricity mix last year was estimated at about 26%, a slight rise from 25% in 2021.

The country's onshore wind installed capacity had risen to nearly 20 gigawatts (GW) as of September, the report said, but added that a goal of some 24 GW in 2023 appeared out of reach.

By 2028, France's multi-annual energy program (PPE) law calls for between 33 GW and 35 GW of onshore wind capacity installed, yet at the current pace France is on track to fall short at some 29.4 GW, the report said.

"It is confirmed that current progress has not kept pace with the speed specified in the PPE," said the report, which was composed by different bodies including Ademe, the French Agency for Ecological Transition.

The pace of solar photovoltaic panel installation in 2021 and part of 2022 "allows for catching up, but does not fully set the sector on the right trajectory", it said.

As of September, France had 15.8 GW of installed solar photovoltaic capacity.

At the current pace, that would mean achieving 31.4 GW by 2028, short of its legislative goal of between 35 GW and 44 GW.

The national assembly on January 10 approved a first version of a new draft law seeking to accelerate renewable installations by simplifying administrative procedures and focusing on offshore wind and solar power.

(Reporitng by Benjamin Mallet, writing by America Hernandez; editing by Jason Neely)