France is set to become Europe’s second-largest generator of electricity from wind power (behind Germany) by 2030, overtaking the UK and Spain thanks to policies being put in place by the French government, according to industry association Wind Europe.

Giles Dickson, Wind Europe’s CEO (www.windeurope.org), told a conference in Paris last week that France’s outlook for offshore and onshore wind power projects was the best in Europe.

“France is number four in terms of installed capacity. We estimate that by 2030, thanks to the policies of the current government, France will overtake the UK and Spain in terms of installed capacity.”

He declined to give figures behind the forecast but added: “From where we are sitting in Brussels, and looking at what is happening across Europe, the outlook for France is maybe the most positive that we are observing.”

The forecast suggests that wind’s share of French electricity generating capacity will be above 25% in 2030.

French President Emmanuel Macron plans to increase the share of renewable generation in the French electricity mix by launching a tender competition for 26GW of renewables capacity during his first term.