Workers in the renewable energy sector gathered in Paris on September 29 to protest against a wave of job cuts and social plans being announced across the industry. Nearly 150 people assembled in front of the Renewable Energy Union (SER) conference to highlight the 20 social plans already announced this year. These plans involve the potential loss of hundreds of jobs across several companies, including RWE, Valorem, Urbasolar, and Voltalia. RWE, a German energy company, has already eliminated 40 jobs in France in 2025 and is considering cutting more than half of its remaining 208 positions. Valorem, a pioneer in France’s renewable energy sector, faces the risk of losing 73 jobs, while Urbasolar could lose about 50 out of 400 positions. Voltalia, a subsidiary of the Mulliez group (which also owns Auchan), is reducing its workforce by 20 percent. Social plans, which involve voluntary departures and non-replacement of positions, are part of a broader trend of job reductions in the renewable energy sector. This is linked to a deliberate decrease in public subsidies for renewable energy, which has affected the cost of employment. While the solar sector has been hit hardest, all areas of the industry—including onshore wind, biogas, and biomass—are experiencing similar challenges. Anne Debregeas, a spokesperson for the Sud-Energy federation, criticized the situation, saying, "It is an absurdity to destroy jobs in a sector that we know has a future." She called for awareness of the large-scale social plan affecting the sector. Fabrice Coudour, general secretary of the CGT energy federation, pledged support for affected employees, emphasizing that "the cost of the energy transition should not be social." Representatives from employer organizations, including France Renewables and the Renewable Energy Union, attended the demonstration to show solidarity with the workers. Jules Nyssen, president of the Renewable Energy Union, expressed support for the employees’ fight and noted that the renewable energy sector has contributed nearly 2.7 billion euros in returns to local communities. However, the sector is demanding long-term visibility and stability. The current hypothesis is that public support for renewables could disappear entirely by 2027, leading to a de facto moratorium and threatening a large portion of the 80,000 direct jobs in the sector. EDF Power Solutions, a French subsidiary focused on renewables, is already restructuring, selling all its North American activities to a U.S. investment fund. Across-the-board funding cuts in France have created a "paralyzed market," according to Laurent Smagghe, secretary of the CSE of EDF-PS. He noted that cost reductions are widespread and that contracts with suppliers are ending. Smaller renewable energy structures, such as Énergies partagées, have not yet laid off employees but are feeling the impact of political instability. Cécile Gueguen, responsible for advocacy at the organization, said that "political instability first affects the most virtuous actors." The lack of financial certainty makes it difficult to create local and cooperative initiatives, especially since these structures also face funding cuts from local authorities, the associative sector, and state agencies like the Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe), which could be further reduced by 30 percent in the new budget. Léo Mariasine, representing the collective Agences en lutte, attended the demonstration to show support. He criticized the current situation, stating, "not only are we not investing enough in the ecological transition, but we are now destroying jobs both in mitigation and adaptation." The collective plans to hold its own general meeting on Monday, October 7, to further discuss the challenges facing the sector.