In France, large outdoor car parks must be equipped with solar-powered shade structures by July 2026, the government confirmed in a decree which was published on Friday November 15. These infrastructures covered with photovoltaic panels must provide shade while producing energy. The first to be affected by this decision are mass distribution companies, which have 21,000 supermarkets and shopping centers in France, as well as 70 million square meters of parking lots. They had requested a postponement of this deadline by at least two years, but were not heard.
1 minute
“ Hard, hard not to be listened to to this extent by the public authorities », protests Dominique Schelcher on the X network, quoting a song. At the head of U supermarkets, he is not the only major retail boss to criticize the French government for undermining their competitiveness.
Faced with climate change, France is trying to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies, of which solar energy plays a key role. But to install large-scale photovoltaic panelsyou need space. And shopping center parking lots make up a considerable amount of space.
Major retail brands are concerned about the cost of the photovoltaic shades they must install, estimated at 11 billion euros. Companies could certainly license these installations to energy suppliers who would resell the electricity produced while paying rent for the occupied parking spaces.
With so many positive points, why such opposition from the large supermarket chains and shopping centers? The latter say that their customers are increasingly going to their stores by public transport. Parking spaces may soon no longer be occupied by cars and could be sold for real estate projects, rather than being used for renewable energies.