France has launched tenders for two bottom-fixed offshore wind farms that will have a total capacity of 2.5 GW.
The first wind farm will be 35 km off Oléron island in the Atlantic with a capacity of about 1 GW, while the second project will take place 38 km off the coast of Normandy and have a capacity of about 1.5 GW.
Developers can submit their initial application by December 23, 2022. Then there’s a 3-month process of competitive dialogue before submitting a final application – starting in February 2023. The projects will be awarded at the end of 2023 or early 2024.
The first French offshore wind farm, located in St Nazaire, recently started producing electricity. It will power the demand of 700,000 people annually.
The French government has committed to building 18 GW of offshore wind by 2035 and 40 GW by 2050 – spread across 50 wind farms. France plans to organise auctions for a minimum of 2 GW of new offshore wind capacity each year starting in 2025. So far the country has put 5.2 GW of offshore wind up for auction, 750 MW of which is floating wind.
