Question 14327 — energy and fuels

Summary

Mr. David Valence draws the attention of the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion to the importance of the question of the development of renewable energy sectors in general and that of hydroelectricity in particular. Hydroelectricity is an essential sector for achieving the objectives that France has set for itself in terms of sustainable development and carbon neutrality. Within this sector, not all players have the same hydraulic capacities: alongside the three main operators providing the main power of the French fleet, multiple hydroelectric energy producers are developing. Today, small hydroelectric projects represent almost half of the sector's development potential. Their implementation should be facilitated when their impact on the environment is negligible. There Law No. 2023-175 of March 10, 2023 relating to the acceleration of the production of renewable energies, which intends to reconcile the improvement of local acceptability with the acceleration of the deployment of renewable energies, provided in its article 19 that projects meeting technical conditions set by decree in the Council of State could be recognized as an imperative reason of major public interest (RIIPM) in order to secure legally, particularly in the event of litigation linked to a request for exemption from the obligation of strict protection of protected species. The legislator has thus given itself the means to reconcile these two injunctions. Concerning the hydroelectric sector, if it appears, on the one hand, difficult to respond to an RIIPM for projects of too modest size, it is necessary, on the other hand, that the hydroelectric potential participates fully of the necessary development of renewable energies when the impact on the environment is controlled, especially since calls for tenders are launched from the 1MW threshold. The power thresholds beyond which installations will automatically benefit from the RIIPM, as proposed by the draft decree - open for public consultation until November 24, 2023 - are 3MW in mainland France and 1 MW in non-interconnected zones (ZNI). He therefore asks him the question of whether the potential of the "small hydroelectricity" sector - a sector in which operators of all sizes participate, including EDF, does not risk being imperfectly exploited by stopping at this threshold of 3MW, while the Higher Energy Council, consulted on the draft decree, has largely come out in favor of its significant lowering.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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