France makes room for more sunshine: bigger solar-plus-battery farms get a faster path to the grid

France plans to let solar farms paired with batteries grow to 25 megawatts, as long as they feed no more than 17 megawatts into the grid at any one moment — a change due by the end of 2026 that lets projects save midday sunshine for the evening instead of wasting it. The same package nudges homes to use power when it is cleanest and cheapest: from 2027, heat-pump subsidies will favour models with smart controls, saving households €150 to €200 (about $170 to $225) a year, and smart electric-car charging could save another €70 to €100 (about $80 to $110) a year. Companies are lining up behind the push — NW Group plans to invest €1 billion (about $1.1 billion) by 2030 in flexible power, and Octopus Energy France aims to manage 1.5 million connected devices.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: policy reform