France’s solar photovoltaic capacity reached a new milestone of 20 GW at the end of 2023, a 19% increase over 2022 levels, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Energy Transition.

Over the course of 2023, an additional 3.2 GW of solar power was connected to the grid, outpacing the 2.7 GW added in the previous year. Solar energy production hit 22.7 TWh, a 19.2% jump from 2022, representing 4.9% of France’s total electricity consumption for the year.

The regions with the highest installed solar capacity were Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and Occitanie, which together accounted for 48% of the new solar additions in 2023 and 53% of the total national capacity in the fourth quarter (Q4).

The country installed 955 MW of solar capacity in Q4 alone, up 29% from the same period last year.

While large projects over 250 kW made up 37% of the new capacity brought online in 2023, smaller residential rooftop solar systems under 9 kW represented 24% of the new capacity.

The total number of installations in the year was 216,487, more than double the previous year.

According to the report, the pipeline of solar projects awaiting grid connection is also growing, reaching 22.4 GW by year-end, of which 5.8 GW have already signed grid connection agreements.

The ministry also highlighted that self-consumption of solar power is on the rise, with 48.2% of solar consumed partly or all the production on-site by the end of 2023.

France aims to have between 35 GW and 44 GW of installed solar capacity by 2028 under its latest energy policy targets.

In the third quarter, France installed 803 MW of solar capacity, compared to 699 MW installed in the same period last year, a 15% rise.

Last year, the ministry announced successful bidders for the fourth round of auction to develop 1.5 GW of ground-mounted solar power projects in the country. Projects were awarded for a total capacity of 1.519 GW, and the average price quoted in the auction was €0.082 (~$0.086)/kWh.