France will launch a tender for pilot offshore wind projects with floating turbines by the end of July, the French Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy announced Thursday.
The ministry has already designated four areas for the future development of the pilot projects. Essentially, the designated sites comprise the waters around Ile de Groix in north-western France, and Leucate, Gruissan and the lighthouse in Faraman on the coast of southern France.
These four areas, which fall into the geographic boundaries of three French regions - Brittany, Languedoc-Roussillon et Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, are considered most favourable in terms of technical feasibility and public acceptance. The ministry has carried out a technical feasibility study in the spring and summer of 2014 as well as a social acceptance consultation with local maritime users, fishermen in particular, which took place in the autumn of 2014 and in the spring of 2015.
The floating wind turbines pilot projects will be financed under the "Investments for the Future" programme (PIA), a ten-year plan launched in 2010 to support research and innovation in France, as well as through feed-in tariff mechanism.
According to the Ministry, floating wind turbines have two main advantages over conventional offshore. They could access better wind resource as they could be sited at deep sea areas, inaccessible to traditional offshore, and also improve the overall environmental impact through replacing foundations with anchors.
"The development of this new industry will contribute to the achievement of the ambitious target to generate 40% of France's electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and open new markets to French companies, both on domestic and foreign markets", the Ministry said on its website.
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