“The result of the vote would concretely put at risk as many jobs as if we closed EDF”, the Montpellier boss of Enerfip explains

Julien Hostache hopes to convince voters of the economic issues of the election. Free Midi – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Julien Hostache, the co-founder of Enerfip, the Montpellier-based participatory investment platform dedicated to energy transition projects, European leader in the field, explains frankly the consequences of voting RN in the next legislative elections.

Why it is important for you to express yourself before the legislative elections ?

For these elections, we hear speeches on deleterious and rather abstract issues. I think people don't realize the issues at stake with the RN. There is a form of denial, of astonishment: everyone is as if caught in the headlights. And sometimes it seems more like reality TV than politics.

I decided to read carefully the RN program to show and demonstrate with very concrete subjects the danger of this vote on employment, local communities or even savings… and this just through the measures promised in the renewable energy sector that I know well.

Concretely, the moratorium on wind and solar power could have such catastrophic consequences ?

Hundreds of companies would be affected and this concerns 166,000 employees in the renewable energy sector. Which would be equivalent to the closure of EDF in terms of jobs. We risk seeing an earthquake, but it’s something that is silent. As if we were in the band of the Titanic waiting for the sinking. This is not a small issue.

The ecological transition sector is growing strongly. Especially since Montpellier is the center of gravity for renewable energies in France. Most of the companies working in this sector are based in the Montpellier basin and they are a hit…hellip;

So when we think about the harm done at the time by the moratorium on photovoltaics decided by François Fillon in 2010, with bankruptcy filings and numerous layoffs.

A new moratorium would endanger this economic sector and if we break the machine once again…hellip;

And how local communities could be impacted ?

There too there is a whole paradox. The resources allocated to communities are decreasing while people want local services, schools… And local authorities are supplemented by the renewable energy sector. You should know that a single wind turbine brings in 30,000 euros per year to communities, like a photovoltaic park of 3 ha.

The RN program is therefore inconsistent on this level, especially since there is no solution proposed if we eliminate renewable energies. There are only handle effects. Not to mention that dismantling a wind turbine is expensive, and you will also have to come up against the bankers who have invested… I don't know to what extent that might be possible. It’s demagogy to present this type of project.

And at the level of savers ?

Over the past ten years, energy transition financing platforms have collected more than 1 billion 200 million euros from the French. This made it possible to inject more than 400 million euros in revenue to the French. Here too we talk about purchasing power. If we destroy the renewable energy subsidiary, we destroy this savings contribution.

And the ecological issue in all that ?

For me this is the main issue. And we are becoming more and more aware of the consequences of global warming, notably with the floods which have hit the north of France several times recently. If we stop the ecological transition, a greater danger is at stake than economic questions.

You're preaching a little for your parish, no ?

Not really (smile), because Enerfip is lucky to have developed abroad. We have international presences to continue our activity. For the record, Italy, which is led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is pushing development in renewable energies…hellip;

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