France tables plan for 1-GW offshore wind tender, eyes more

The French government has unveiled plans to open an up to 1-GW tender for an offshore wind farm in state waters and said it has identified a suitable area in the Atlantic, west of France.

While no specific timeframe for the tender was available, the government said on Friday that a winner is due to be selected in early 2024. The proposed wind farm is planned to become operational in the early 2030s.

A site off the island of Oleron, located more than 35 km off the French coast, is planned to become home to the future wind farm. The specific site was selected following a public debate held between October 2021 and February 2022. The project is intended to deploy innovative technologies enabling the power plant to be built further from the coast than existing schemes.

If successfully realised, the project will showcase the potential for similar developments, the government said, adding that a second wind farm of the same size could be installed in the future. The wind park of up to 1 GW could be sited even further offshore and use either floating or fixed-bottom foundations. Preliminary studies are yet to be undertaken on the second scheme.

The two wind farms, if built, are estimated to be able to produce enough electricity to supply around 1.6 million people.

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