Shell, partners axe plan for floating wind pilot off France - report

Shell plc (LON:SHEL) and its consortium partners Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) and China’s CGN have abandoned plans to build a pilot floating wind farm off France’s Brittany coast, daily Les Echos reports.

The partners have dropped their intentions due to the rising costs amid growing inflation levels, the global energy crisis and supply chain hurdles. The project was estimated to require an investment of some EUR 300 million (USD 312.7m).

The Belle-Ile-en-Mer demo was planned to be installed off the Belle-Ile island in northwestern France, consisting of three turbines on floating platforms. The plant was initially to be powered by four of General Electric’s 6-MW offshore machines, which moved out of production. The developer chose the 9.5-MW MHI Vestas turbines as a substitute and cut the turbine count due to the choice of larger units.

The project was originated by French floating wind power specialist Eolfi SA, CGN Europe Energy and CDC's Banque des Territoires. Shell inherited the project back in 2019 with the acquisition of Eolfi.

France has set a goal of having 40 GW of offshore wind power generation capacity by 2050. In September, the national government selected a site off the Belle-Ile-en-Mer island to host the country’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm. The developer of the 250-MW wind project will be selected through a tender process.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.042)

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