This Winter 2016 edition of the Grenoble Ecole de Management Energy Market Barometer explores the opinion of French energy experts about the decentralization of the electricity sector in France. French experts were also asked where the focus of French energy policy should be in the next five years.
Report #7 - Winter2016
Project Team
Joachim Schleich (coordinator), Mélodie Cartel, Evan Shao, Anne-Lorène Vernay.
The GEM Energy Market Barometer report (Baromètre du Marché de l’Energie) is a twice-yearly survey of energy market experts from industry, science, and public administration in France. These experts are typically asked to provide their assessment of short, medium and long term developments of national and international energy markets. Usually, the survey is designed in close collaboration with the ZEW, the Center for European Economic Research, which has carried out a similar barometer for Germany for more than 10 years.
This report is based on a survey that was conducted in November-December and included 99 participants from France.
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Key findings
- French energy experts sense a clear trend toward the decentralization of the French electricity system
- Technology innovation and self-sufficiency for corporations and municipalities are the two major promises of decentralization
- The major barriers to faster decentralization in France are the high price of energy storage systems and the lack of political will
- 74% of experts believe that energy efficiency should be a top priority for French energy policy in the next five years
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the decentralization of the electricity sector should also be a top priority for French energy policy in the next five years.
- Experts are divided over the future of nuclear energy
