A simple coincidence, which does not lack salt. While the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron is traveling this Thursday to Belfort, where he must detail his proposals for the revival of French nuclear power, the renewable energy sector has also chosen the date of February 10 to be heard. Through the publication of the second part of its white paper, the main trade union in the sector wants to weigh in on the presidential debate by reaffirming the urgent need to accelerate the development of these low-carbon energies. Wind power on land or at sea, solar photovoltaic, biogas… Their generalization is tearing a good part of the French political class apart. For Jean-Louis Bal, boss of the renewable energies union, the climate emergency nevertheless requires accelerating the movement.
L’Express: The publication of this white paper in the middle of the presidential campaign obviously owes nothing to chance. In this context, what is your assessment of the proposals for the development of renewable energies?
Jean Louis Bal: The presidential debate is poor with regard to the fight against climate change. This danger is not identified as a priority theme by the candidates outside of Europe Ecologie les Verts and la France insoumise. Right-wing and far-right parties clearly do not make it a primary focus of their political agenda. As for the presidential party, we are waiting for concrete proposals. Overall, climate change is apprehended in a silo approach, we look at this subject as we look at purchasing power, immigration, identity… Few candidates place the protection of the planet as a project that oversees all others. This will result in contradictory policies. This is why we want to present our positions, raise the debate.
In the public and media debate, the fate of renewable energies is systematically captured by the sterile oppositions between anti and pro-wind turbines. Doesn’t your work also tend to restore the image of the sector a little?
This white paper is a traditional exercise for us. We had published this same type of work in 2012 and then in 2017 and we made proposals during the Grenelle de l’environnement. Political power must feed on the sector’s proposals. Today, renewable energies represent 166,000 jobs, they provide services to agriculture, industry and territories. Despite this, we are behind on our objectives. Renewable energies represent 19% of the French energy mix in 2020, whereas France had committed to reaching 23%. We are the only country not to achieve the European objectives among the 27. Not very glorious when we take the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The scenarios of the electricity transmission system operator (RTE) are clear : even in the most ambitious scenarios for nuclear power, in 2050 renewable energies will represent at least 50% of the electricity mix. All this while electricity consumption will also increase because we need carbon-free electricity for industry, transport, mobility and construction. On non-electric energies, we also have the obligation to decarbonize massively in order to do without fossil fuels. Overall, we estimate that the French energy mix will be made up of 75% renewable energies by 2050. We must have this objective in sight. We have ten thousand days between now and 2050. This may seem far away for citizens, or for politicians who do not see beyond the five years of their mandate.
Jean Louis Bal, president of the Renewable Energies Syndicate
SER
You said it, we are late, how to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies?
The main idea to remember is that there is no technical and economic obstacle to the generalization of renewable energies. Our sectors are mature. With the current energy context, they are much more profitable than fossil fuels, and quite competitive compared to new nuclear, even taking into account the impact on the electricity networks. The main obstacle is the administrative organization of the State. We need a clearly expressed political will, consistent over the long term and which is available at all levels. This is not always the case between different departments.
For example, Barbara Pompili does not say the same thing as Bruno Le Maire. In the absence of this guideline, state services at national level such as prefects have their own religion. On the ground, this results in the slowness in the examination of projects, or even in an under-dimensioning of the administrations for the energy transition. Reinforcing government staff and reducing the duration of project appraisal seems essential to us.
In a recent interview with L’Express, the CEO of Bloom, a social network analysis platform, judged that “wind turbines had no chance of developing peacefully in France”. How to calm the debate?
There is a magnifying effect of social networks. This kind of deformation, we experienced it in connection with vaccines with a political power paralyzed for several months at the idea of accelerating the vaccination policy, because of very minority opponents but very active on social networks. Our observation, supported by various surveys but also extensive studies with local residents and our members, is that the acceptability of wind power is very poorly measured. Feedback from local associations that are very active and organized at national level, or appeals, is not a good thermometer. Polls, including those carried out by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, show that the acceptance of wind power, including in areas with high penetration, is good.
To calm the debate, we must already remember that wind power is useful. It will be essential to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. This energy generates benefits at the territorial level, in terms of employment and taxation. This is the equivalent of one billion euros per year for local authorities. We don’t have factories for the production of wind turbines on land, but there are a whole series of jobs in maintenance, installation. We also offer a local fund dedicated to the ecological transition of the municipalities where it is located, funded by part of the income from the wind farm.
Behind the opposition to wind power, it is sometimes the feeling of a central power that leads the energy transition at a brisk pace without worrying about the social consequences for the populations at the local level. This was particularly seen during the movement of the yellow vests.
This movement is first and foremost a population with low purchasing power that finds itself helpless in the face of rising energy prices. The energy transition involves changes in behavior and consumption that are not always easy to understand for these populations. For households to be able to renovate their homes and change vehicles, significant financial support is needed. One of the flagship proposals of our white paper is the creation of a “social fund for the climate”, supplemented in particular by part of the climate-energy contribution. It is a key measure in the overall development of renewable energies, because it directly involves the citizen and enables him to support the changes brought about by the energy transition.
One of the great criticisms addressed to electrical renewable energies is precisely the fact that this industry is largely foreign. By schematizing, that the photovoltaic panels are Chinese, and the German wind turbines? Where is the reality?
The analysis is different depending on the sector. In offshore wind power, for example, it’s been a real success. We have three factories in France for the design of wind turbines. Land represents 22,000 jobs, half of which are industrial. The major wind turbine manufacturers are Danish or Spanish, but we have a whole series of players in the supply of electrical or electromechanical components. Rollix Defontaines, an industrialist from Vendée, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of slewing rings for wind turbines. French photovoltaics is still alive, even if it only provides a small fraction of the capacities installed in 2021. However, in partnership with the CEA, the French sector is making progress on high-efficiency module technology which should allow it to breathe new life. And the continued increase in capacity opens a window for relocating production lines.
Your plan estimates that we could create 100,000 jobs in this sector by the end of the decade. Again, this is an ambitious goal.
It is realistic, provided you are there on the training site. What our members bring to our attention are difficulties in recruiting, for all levels of qualifications, from welders to engineers, including project managers. We offer a “Renewable Path”, which is broken down into an initial training axis for young people leaving college, professional training offers for those aspiring to a new profession, as well as financial support for mobility. It is not exorbitant in terms of public funding.