A photovoltaic power plant on the former Marville-Montmedy air base in Marville in the Meuse (Grand-Est). – JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP
- This is the first time that Greenpeace is working on a classification of metropolitan regions according to their energy sobriety and the development dynamic of renewable energies.
- After having defined a national trajectory, betting on a 100% renewable France on its electricity production in 2050, Greenpeace has declined this region by region, comparing it with the efforts that had actually been undertaken in the territories. since 2013.
- Energy sobriety, wind at sea, land, solar energy. The regions were scored on four criteria. None is totally on the right track, notes Greenpeace, which still gives good points to the Grand Est and bad to Brittany and Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.
Auvergne Rhône-Alpes? A huge mess. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté? Cool ambitions, a snail rhythm. Brittany? A giant that ignores itself… Greenpeace publishes this Thursday its classification of metropolitan regions in their transition to
energy sobriety and 100% renewable electricity.
An unprecedented exercise for the NGO, whose publication falls ten days before the first round of regional elections. “It is not to be seen as the assessment of the outgoing team, but more as a point of step of what the regions have undertaken since 2013 and the ambitions they have set themselves”, warns Nicolas Nace, Energy Transition campaign manager at Greenpeace. With the hope, all the same, that this classification feeds the electoral debate, “for the moment of very low quality on this issue and polluted by the political postures and the few visions”, he regrets. Then it inspires future regional leaders.
A transition that first takes place in the regions?
The stakes are high in any case, while this 2030 decade is considered crucial to properly launch the transition to carbon neutrality in 2050. If its planning and financing are done at the national level, it is in the regions that ‘it materializes. “They finance installations, support civic projects, mobilize European funds…”, recalls Nicolas Nace.
To assess their actions, Greenpeace first established a national benchmark trajectory, called SobRE, based on various existing prospective scenarios *. It goes further than what France is committed to today / than the commitment made by France. Especially on the nuclear issue. “The State only acted that in 2035, the share of nuclear power in the electricity mix would be reduced to 50%, recalls Nicolas Nace. Beyond that, the government leaves the choice to build new reactors or to move towards a 100% renewable mix. “
A 100% renewable path in 2050 as a starting point
SobRE does not procrastinate and bet on a 100% renewable France in 2050. “Ambitious but realistic”, considers Nicolas Nace. In detail, it anticipates a very slight drop in total electricity consumption in France, from 456 terawatt / hour (TWh) in 2019 to 447 in 2050. This thanks to significant energy sobriety efforts and despite an electrification of electricity. ‘a significant part of the uses that today depend on fossil fuels. The rise of the electric car typically. At the same time, SobRE anticipates that this French electricity consumption will be provided almost exclusively by hydroelectric, photovoltaic and wind energy sources (on land and at sea).
It then remained to decline this national trajectory in the region. “What we did by taking into account the potential of each one, specifies the campaigner at Greenpeace. That is to say their source of wind, their rate of sunshine, their demography, their area. The NGO then found itself with 13 trajectories that it compared to what was concretely undertaken in the territories between 2013 and 2019.
Energy sobriety still too neglected in the regions?
First criterion noted: energy sobriety. A pillar of the energy transition that Greenpeace considers generally neglected by the regions. The NGO looked at the evolution of electricity consumption in each of them. Six saw it increase between 2013 and 2019, the report notes. They then collect a 0/10. Conversely, Greenpeace rewards Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France with a 10/10, and the Grand Est with a 9.6 / 10. They are “on an ambitious path of reducing electricity consumption,” the report justifies.
However, the precise reasons for the reductions in consumption observed in these three regions are missing. Is it the result of ambitious energy sobriety policies, or rather of socio-economic factors, such as deindustrialisation for example. Greenpeace concedes the need for in-depth analysis.
Are some regions too far ahead of onshore wind power?
Greenpeace then looked at the dynamics of renewable energy development. On onshore wind power, Greenpeace distinguishes four regions which have experienced intense growth in recent years. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Occitanie, Grand Est and Hauts-de-France. Almost too much, especially for the last two. “They have a development rate three to four times greater than that which we recommend for these two territories in SobRE”, indicates Nicolas Nace. Greenpeace then asks them to rebalance their efforts on other renewables.
In the bad performers now, there are Corsica and PACA, which have seen their onshore wind production stagnate or even drop since 2013. The rest form a large soft belly, with scores ranging from 2.5 to 5 out of 10.
Offshore wind power and solar power still underdeveloped
Greenpeace has also looked into offshore wind power, although no park is currently connected to the French electricity grid from our coasts. Seven should see the light of day between 2022 and 2027, and more are in the pipeline. In view of their distribution, Hauts-de-France, Normandy and Pays-de-la-Loire could wait for the objectives of the SobRE trajectory of Greenpeace. On the other hand, this is unlikely to be the case for the other coastal regions such as Brittany, New Aquitaine, Occitanie and PACA, the study continues.
Finally, the thirteen regions were noted on the place they gave to photovoltaics. Like offshore wind power, “the sector is still very underdeveloped in France and the regions are far behind on their objectives”, begins Nicole Nace. The campaign manager at Greenpeace sees only one head that comes out of the water a little: New Aquitaine, which scores a 6.5 / 10. And even. While the dynamic is encouraging, it remains insufficient. But it is better than all the other twelve regions, considered largely behind. With the exception of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, all of them must almost increase their annual rate of development to achieve the 2030 objectives of the SobRE trajectory.
The Grand Est is a good student, Brittany and Auvergne Rhône-Alpes lagging behind
Greenpeace does not draw up a general classification compiling the scores on the four criteria taken into account. “If we had to bring out a region, it would still be Grand Est, which has reduced its consumption well, well developed onshore wind power – even if therefore a little too quickly for our taste -, started to put the package on the photovoltaic, ”says Nicolas Nace. The campaign manager also points to two regions “very late in their electric transition, which is all the more worrying in so far as they have a very strong potential for the development of renewable energies. It is Brittany and Auvergne Rhône-Alpes ”.