Rémi Bastien of Enogrid, an operator of the ACC platform, said the shift in network dynamics is significant: while the network has historically been fed continuously by producers, generation and consumption are now matched at 15-minute intervals. ACC, he said, becomes the technical lever to smooth out these mismatches and monetize local production close to end users.
Land and heritage restrictions are proving to be a material obstacle, including for large asset owners. Alice Timsit, representative of the city of Paris, acknowledged that not all roofs in the capital can be equipped for solar energy, under the supervision of the French Authority for Historic Buildings – although she said that only 10% of PV projects are currently rejected on those grounds.
To go beyond this ceiling, Paris has formally requested a derogation from the DGEC, the French energy and climate directorate, to expand the ACC perimeter from the current limit to two kilometers. The aim is to enable larger-scale activities by integrating not only the 25% of Paris’ housing stock classified as social housing, but also municipal real estate in the suburbs.
Social housing represents a major potential driver of ACC growth in France. Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Union Sociale pour l’habitat, the national federation of social housing landlords, said more than 50% of France’s social housing stock remains dependent on fossil fuels – a legacy of past policy choices. She said the way forward lies not in isolated interventions, but in district-scale approaches that offer more flexibility, although she acknowledged that this requires all parties to come to the table. She also emphasized the need to ensure security of supply and service levels equivalent to existing gas boilers, which in turn requires building a reliable network of qualified professionals who can respond quickly.
When pv magazine France When asked about an upcoming government decree on allocation keys – the rules that determine how shared solar energy is distributed among ACC participants – the panel’s answer surprised attendees. What industry players had identified as a critical issue was characterized by one panelist as a technical issue rather than a real obstacle. Enogrid, who had previously described the key allocation question as crucial in comments to the PV magazine France, appeared to distance himself from that position during the event. The problem remains unresolved.
