The French National Assembly has adopted an amendment to alleviate rules for outdoor parking facilities, to draw protests from stakeholders of solar and renewable energy that warn that it undermines the progress of the climate.
The National Meeting of France has adopted an amendment to determine No. 2024-1023 that the mandate for solar installations in parking places larger than 1500 square meters relaxes. Former Minister of Enterprise Olivia Grégoire submitted the amendment.
The new rules eliminate the obligation by allows owners of outdoor parking places of more than 1500 square meters of covering at least half of the area with either solar panel, shadow trees or a combination of both.
“This is a common measure that does not question the ambition of the law, but on the contrary facilitates the implementation of it, in accordance with other objectives for energy and environmental policy,” says the change. “This reconciles ecological requirements, energy efficiency and economic feasibility.”
Prior to the change, the decree required parking garages larger than 10,000 square meters to install solar carports on July 1, 2026, while they had between 1,500 and 10,000 square meters until July 1, 2028. It also mandatory that at least 50% of the parking spaces, including traffic stans, are covered with sunscreen or green canopies.
The renewable energy sector reacted quickly and protested.
“As a result, there is no longer a formal obligation to resolve these parking spaces, because it will simply be planting of trees to comply with the law,” said Renewables Trade Group SER, who calls that the provision will be removed during the parliamentary debate.
Lawyer Arnaud Gossement also criticized the changes and noted that since 2021 the legal framework for solving parking spaces has repeatedly shifted – due to changes, exemptions, delays and now almost elimination – creating continuous uncertainty for stakeholders of the solar industry.
Many players in the PV industry note that during the installation of solar panels mounted on the ground has become increasingly difficult because of access to land, rules for city planning or environmental problems, there is still broad public support for solar energy in existing parking spaces. However, many owners of parking spaces, including large retailers, have opposed the use of their country for electricity production, with reference to reasons such as the preservation of space for future use or avoiding investments from third parties.
Solar Union Energplan has called “MPs to maintain a coherent and stable course of energy policy, a course, a course that guarantees a solid path of fossil fuels.”
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