A group of 12 French firms is urging new environment and energy minister Ségolène Royal to set a goal for 5% of the country’s electricity to come from solar.

The consortium, which includes Solaire Direct and Exosun, has also asked for a 25GW target for installed generation capacity by 2025.

According to the group, the sector directly employs 10,000 people and a further 15,000 indirectly. A dedicated solar target of 5% could support 25,000 direct jobs and 35,000 indirect by 2025, they claim.

France currently has around 4GW installed. The current target is 5.4GW by 2020.

Speaking to PV Tech’s sister title Solar Business Focus in May, Richard Loyen, general secretary of the renewable energy association Enerplan, said it was time the government took action to boost the country’s solar sector.

“This is our fourth energy minister since Hollande took power and we are still waiting for the energy transition law. Royal is known to be friendly to solar and proactive, we should be optimistic but now we need some concrete measures. It’s been more than two years without one,” said Loyen.

Yesterday, Germany-based manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS said it was targeting France as one of its key European markets this year.