France to tender 2.5 GW of offshore wind capacity

France has launched tenders for two offshore bottom-fixed wind projects with a total capacity of 2.5 GW, industry body WindEurope said.

One project is for a wind farm of about 1 GW located 35 kilometres (21.7 miles) off the Oleron island in the Atlantic. The other is aimed at installing a 1.5-GW wind farm 38 kilometres off Normandy. This would be the second project in the Normandy area following the one of around 1 GW that is currently under tender, the wind industry organisation said.

Interested developers are invited to submit their initial application by December 23. In February 2023 starts a three-month “competitive dialogue” period, during which developers can discuss the project with public authorities before submitting their final application.

The projects will be awarded at the end of 2023 or early 2024, according to WindEurope.

The announcement comes just days after France celebrated commercial operation of its first utility-scale offshore wind farm, the 480-MW Saint-Nazaire.

WindEurope said that French authorities should start making plans for tenders in 2024 and 2025 to give clarity and visibility to investors. The nation is targeting 18 GW of offshore wind by 2035 and 40 GW by 2050. This means it would have to organise auctions for at least 2 GW of new offshore wind capacity each year starting in 2025, the organisation calculates, adding that the current pace is 1 GW of auctioned capacity per year.

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