The St Aubin wind farm in the Meuse department of northern France is a symbol of what renewable energy can contribute to one of Europe's largest economies.
Its ten 2.3 Megawatt (MW) Nordex wind turbines, operating since 2008, represent just one of many similar projects constructed in this rural district over the past few years. So successful has wind power been in Meuse that it already contributes more electricity than is consumed by every household in the department.
Similar experiences are being repeated all over France, from the champagne district near the border with Germany to the hilly 'massif central' in the centre of the country.
Wind power is now France's fastest growing energy source. From a relatively slow start at the beginning of the new millennium, France achieved a record level of new wind power installations in 2008 by adding 950 MW to its wind energy fleet. This represented about 60% of all new power generation capacity added in France last year, and also contributed to making wind energy the first choice for new power production in the whole EU. France's total installed wind capacity now stands at just over 3,400 MW, the fourth largest in Europe, and produced 5,600 GWh in 2008, and the French wind sector now provides employment for 7,000 people.
France has been energised into taking wind power more seriously by its commitment under the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive. This recently laid down that renewable energy should make up 23% of the national energy mix by 2020, up from just over 10% in 2005.
Wind power developers have been encouraged by the introduction of a 'feed-in tariff' which ensures that wind farm operators are paid a premium for their electricity generation, in recognition of the technology's environmental benefits.
The French government has now established a specific target for wind energy - to reach a level of 25,000 MW by 2020. Of this, 6,000 MW would be constructed offshore.
"The government's target shows that wind energy has become both competitive and a mature source of energy," says Marion Lettry of France Energie Eolienne, the French Wind Energy Association. "We are confident that if all interested parties, both local and national, work together with the industry, we can make sure that this target is reached."
Saint Aubin wind farm is the fourth in a series featured on the "Wind Power Works" website - http://www.windpowerworks.net/ - to illustrate the benefits that wind power brings to countries and communities around the world.
Read more at http://www.windpowerworks.net/
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