France selects an area for a 250 MW floating offshore wind project in Brittany

The French government has selected an area located more than 20 km from Pointe des Poulains, a peninsula located at the north-western end of Belle-Île, an island off the coast of Brittany in northwest France, to build a 250 MW floating wind project. The competitive dialogue with the 10 pre-selected candidates, initiated in 2021, is coming to an end. Candidates must submit their offers in early 2023. The designation of the winner should follow between March and June 2023. The project should be operational by 2030. The country plans a second 500 MW floating offshore wind project located in the same area. France targets 2.4 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2023 and between 5.2 GW and 6.2 GW by 2028.

In September 2021, the French Ministry of Ecological Transition pre-selected ten companies or consortia to build the project. The preselected companies or consortia include Equinor, Iberdrola, RWE, Ocean Winds (a joint venture of Engie and EDPR), a consortium of CIP and Eni, Eoliennes Flottantes Bretagne Grand Large (EDF Renewables and Maple Power (a joint venture of Enbridge and CPPIB)), a consortium of Elicio and BayWa, a consortium of Shell, Valeco (EnBW) and Eolien en Mer Participations (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations), a consortium of TotalEnergies, Green Investment Group and Quair, and a consortium of wpd, Vattenfall and BlueFloat Energy. They will participate to a competitive dialogue, which aims to reduce the cost the project and secure its implementation. The designation of the winner is scheduled in 2022, and commissioning is planned for 2029.