The planned Mont des Quatre Faux wind farm in northeast France, which was to become one of the country’s largest onshore wind projects, has had its licence revoked by a court following challenges from local activists over “visual saturation” and landscape impact, as reported by Reuters.
The 226MW Mont des Quatre Faux wind farm, to be developed by EDF Renewables and Belgian company Renner, represents an investment exceeding €250m ($276m) but has now been brought to a halt.
Go deeper with GlobalData
This setback reflects the broader challenges France faces in meeting European Union renewable energy guidelines, which are frequently hindered by bureaucratic hurdles and local opposition.
An EDF Renewables spokesperson stated that the company will assess the decision and issue a response. Renner has chosen not to comment on the court’s decision.
The Mont des Quatre Faux project received its initial permit in 2017 but has faced numerous objections from opposition groups. This is the first time their efforts have resulted in a licence revocation.
Spanning 5,000 hectares (ha), the proposed project encompasses the seven municipalities of Bignicourt, Cauroy, Hauviné, Juniville, La Neuville-en-Tourne-à-Fuy, Mont-Saint-Rémy and Ville-sur-Retourne.
Several specialist firms had been enlisted to work on the project. Landscape studies were carried out by Landscape Workshop (Signy-l’Abbaye), Abies and DAO&CO. Technical assessments were conducted by ALIOS, Antea, CGX Aero, CTEAM, Everoze, Ingérop (Metz/Strasbourg), Setreo GMBH and Zephir Ltd.
For environmental evaluation, the enlisted companies included Airele (Châlons-en-Champagne), Écosphère (Strasbourg), and Symbiose (Reims), with support from the Renard (Poix-Terron) and LPO CA associations.
In March 2025, EDF Renewables North America and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) signed a power purchase agreement with Soluna Holdings, a data centre developer and operator.
