The EU Commission has confirmed the support prices that will be paid to French Round 1 and 2 offshore wind farms.
A note, issued in July in relation to the renegotiated subsidies but only published today, shows that the Ailes Marines consortium led by Iberdrola will receive €155 per megawatt-hour for its 496MW Saint-Brieuc project.
This is followed by €143.6/MWh to be paid to the EMF consortium, which includes EDF Renewables, Enbridge and WPD, for the 480MW Saint-Nazaire project.
The consortium will receive €138.7/MWh and €135.2/MWh for 450MW Courseulles and 498MW Fecamp, respectively.
Engie has secured €137/MWh for the 496MW Noirmoutier and €133/MWh for the 496MW Le Treport projects.
The Commission said in the note that the prices were relatively high compared to other projects commissioned in the same time frame between 2022 and 2024 or later.
However, it added that was down to particularly problematic rocky sea soil, worse wind conditions than elsewhere and the fact that France hadn’t carried out preliminary studies preparing the ground for the developers.
The Commission also pointed out that developers can’t easily change the components proposed for the Round 1 and 2 project and are not able to fully benefit from the latest technology.
The government and developers last year agreed to bring down feed-in-tariffs from the €180/MWh and €230/MWh rates, which were first awarded to the projects.
Engie and Ailes Marines did not comment on the confirmation, while WPD said it was happy that the Commission had confirmed the tariffs.