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The Business Spectator has an article on French plans to wind down nuclear power in favour of renewables - French carbon tax, feed-in tariff reform and CCS on horizon.

Germany’s neighbour France is also looking to shake up how it supports renewables as the country begins its “energy transition” away from nuclear.

France will introduce a carbon tax and a law to cap nuclear-power capacity as part of a new energy bill next year to boost renewable generation, President Francois Hollande told an environment conference last week. Hollande has vowed to reduce reliance on nuclear to half of total output by about 2025 while also keeping down consumers’ bills.

Among other things, the energy law in 2014 will define how renewables are financed. Hollande said last week that the above-market guaranteed prices currently paid to green energy producers “can lead to a waste of public funds, profit-taking and speculative behaviour.” Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects the shift in renewable support may move towards a greater use of tenders to keep costs low.

The Business Insider has an article about a new French tidal power project being built by Irish company OpenHydro - Work Starts On The Worlds Largest Tidal Energy Project.

French utility giant Electricite de France is collaborating with Irish marine technology company OpenHyrdro to build the worlds largest tidal power station — essentially a giant underwater wind farm — off the northern coast of France (via Industrialinfo.com).

The new 8-megawatt facility consists of four tidal turbines and will be capable of generating enough energy to power around 4,000 homes. The first turbine was completed at the end of August and will undergo a series of tests before being installed on the subsea base at Paimpol-Bréha.

The project, which commenced work in 2008, will cost around €40 million ($56.5 million) and is expected to go live in 2012.