Having revised upward its target for offshore wind capacity, the French government recently proposed a new schedule for large-scale tenders for offshore wind
In 2023, France increased its offshore wind target for 2050 to 45 GW, with an intermediate target of 18 GW by 2035 and on 2 May 2024, the government published a new offshore auction schedule, clarifying auction timelines, identifying new sites and extending existing ones. The government also set out simplification measures that would drastically reduce the overall time to build offshore windfarms.
During a visit to Saint-Nazaire on 2 May, France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and Delegate Minister for Industry Roland Lescure outlined the government’s revised strategy for offshore wind deployment.
The Ministers presented a number of changes to the country’s offshore tender schedule, including building larger windfarms, further out at sea, but also extending the size of existing offshore wind sites by 2.5 GW.
Two offshore wind auction rounds of 1.2 GW and 1.5 GW (AO7, AO8) will be launched this summer and a broad stakeholder consultation to be finalised this year will inform the government about suitable sites for offshore wind development up until 2050. As a result of the consultation, an auction round (AO10) for up to 8-10 GW of capacity is expected to be prepared later this year.
France made a very slow start to building offshore windfarms. Experience to date shows that it takes 10 to 12 years to build an offshore windfarm there, a pace WindEurope said “threatens the economic viability of offshore windfarms and puts France’s energy targets at risk.” Responding to this, and to ensure that the new offshore wind targets can be met, the Ministers announced several new measures to “drastically simplify and shorten” planning and permitting procedures.
The Ministers said they aim to halve the timeline for an offshore windfarm from 12 years to six years. Simplification measures should make it possible to waive certain public procurement rules and accelerate the grid connection for new windfarms. The Ministers also pledged to reduce the total duration of auctions to around 12 months – compared with up to three years today.
The Ministers also noted that France wants to make maximum use of opportunities arising from the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA). These include using prequalification and non-price criteria in wind energy auctions.
The French government has announced it will implement NZIA criteria, prequalification criteria on cyber and data security and responsible business conduct, as well as supply chain resilience criteria by the end 2025 and apply them for the offshore wind auctions AO9 and AO10. The criteria will help strengthen Europe’s wind sector in line with commitments under the EU Wind Power Package and the European Wind Charter. France also wants to create 20,000 additional jobs in wind energy manufacturing by 2035.
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