France is losing renewable investment due to slow permits, say Total and EDF CEOs
Recasts to add EDF ceo; EDF ceo added to headline and lead, adds EDF CEO quote in paragraphs 3-5;.
By America Hernandez and Benjamin Mallet
PARIS, Dec 10 (Reuters) -France must make it easier to develop solar, wind and batteryprojects or lose out to neighbours, the CEOs of French oil major TotalEnergies and state-owned EDF said on Tuesday at the French electricity union (UFE) annual conference.
France hopes to massively expand its renewable energy, notably offshore wind, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, but a slow licensing process and regulatory hurdles have left it trailing Germany and Britain.
It currently has two fully operational offshore wind farms together producing almost 1 GW, and says it wants to reach 45 GW by 2050.
EDF, in addition to operating France's nuclear power stations and several hydroelectric dams, has 20.7 GW of gross installed wind and solar capacity worldwide - but only about 3.2 GW in France.
"It's hell to invest in France for regulatory reasons ... The administrative delays just can't be compared with what we experience in other parts of the world," said EDF CEO Luc Remont.
"And it's not just renewables; it's hell to connect an industrial user or a data centre to the electricity grid."
For its part, TotalEnergies TTEF.PA aims to reach 35 GW of gross installed renewable capacity by next year and 100 GW by 2030.
Of its current 27 GW of gross installed renewable capacity, only around 2 GW is in France.
Its CEO,Patrick Pouyanne, said obtaining permits to build renewables was twice as fast in Germany, and that French taxes on batteries for renewable energy storage had led to Total having 200 megawatts (MW) at home versus 2 GW in Germany.
"In the U.S., I built 2 GW [of renewable capacity] in one year ... In France I've got 500 energy developers who manage to eke out 300-400 MW per year ... I can't continue to invest and to have so many people costing me money for such a weak return."
Bidding alone for offshore wind tenders in France takes an average of 2.5 to 3 years.
"I don't understandwhy we'reable to renovate Notre Dame Cathedral in five years and unableto build solar or wind plants at the same pace in France," Pouyanne said.
Reporting by America Hernandez; writing by Dominique Patton; editing by Jason Neely, Susan Fenton and Kevin Liffey
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