PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP)–Czech state-run power group CEZ is targeting the wind energy sector in France, a country where the segment has been on the rise for the past decade, a company official told AFP.
France has vowed to raise the share of green power in its energy mix to 23 percent by 2020 and to 32 percent by 2030 as part of meeting EU-wide renewable energy targets.
CEZ, which is 70-percent-controlled by the Czech state, bought nine wind farm projects under construction in France from German developer ABO Wind in June 2017.
If all nine farms are completed, CEZ installed wind output in France will reach 100 megawatts within five years.
CEZ chose to invest in French renewables after experiencing difficulty investing in the sector in southern neighbours such as Albania or Bulgaria where regulatory regimes are less stable.
“The countries of Western Europe including France are very favourable to renewable energy,” Martin Pacovsky, CEZ’s director for renewable energies, told AFP in a recent interview.
“It’s good to be there,” he added, summing up the company’s reasons for investing in France.
CEZ, Europe’s eighth largest power group, has assets in Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey.
It runs wind parks in Romania with an output of 600 megawatts and in Germany with 133 megawatts.
In 2017, CEZ produced 62,887 terawatt-hours of power, of which 4,677 TWh came from renewable sources.
“Our goal is to invest two billion euros ($2.34 billion) in new energy solutions and renewable assets by 2021,” said Pacovsky.
© Agence France-Presse