The French government has published a map of priority areas for the development of offshore wind power by 2035 and 2050. The area identification should help prepare for the launch of a new call for tenders for offshore wind projects at the beginning of 2025.
The AO10 is expected to offer a 9.2 GW capacity, distributed among five wind projects along the French coasts (two fixed-base wind projects of about 2 GW each in the English Channel off Fécamp, a 2 GW floating wind turbine project in north-west Brittany, a 1.2 GW in the Bay of Biscay and a 2 GW floating wind project in the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean Sea). The results of the AO10 areas are scheduled to be published in the autumn of 2026, with the projects aiming to achieve France’s capacity target of 18 GW in service by 2035, to supply about 20% of the country's power mix by 2050.
In a second phase, one or more competitive bidding procedures should be launched for projects commissioned by 2040, in order to reach 45 GW of offshore wind in 2050. Four offshore wind projects could be developed, including a 2 GW project on the East Channel-North Sea coast (Roche-Dover area), a 2 GW project in the Roches-Dover and North-East Brittany areas, a 1.2 GW project in the North Bay of Biscay area, and a 1.1 GW in the Eastern Gulf of Lion area.
France only has 3 operational offshore wind projects: the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire, 500 MW Fécamp and the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc (1.5 GW).
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