Growth of French wind power capacity slows in first half of 2017: wind lobby

PARIS (Reuters) - New onshore wind capacity dipped in France in the first six months of 2017 compared with the same period a year ago as operators slowed the development of projects because of policy and economic uncertainties, an industry lobby said on Tuesday. New onshore wind capacity connected to the grid, fell 13 percent to 492.35 megawatts compared with the same period in 2016, France Energie Eolienne (FEE) said in a statement. Germany's Enercon led new capacity installations in France with 31 percent, while Denmark's Vestas followed with 20 percent. Senvion and Nordex each installed 14 percent, while GE and Siemens Gamesa had 11 and 10 percent respectively. The lobby group represents 300 members with 90 percent of installed wind turbines in France. "The uncertainties prompted wind sector professionals to be cautious, pending a coherent and stable framework," Olivier Perot, president of FEE, said in the statement. The lobby did not give details of the uncertainties but said outlook for 2017 would be in line with 2016. However, it said although the industry could meet France's target of 15 gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind by end-2018, hurdles would have to be removed for France to meet its 2023 objective of 26 GW. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Richard Balmforth)