The French government has identified the site for a 250MW floating wind farm, which will be located off the coast of southern Brittany.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Energy Transition, and Hervé Berville, Secretary of State for the Sea announced that the project should include about twenty wind turbines.
These will be located inside the area selected for the launch of the call for tenders following the public debate completed in 2020.
The location of the park will be included in the specifications of the call for tenders which will be submitted for the opinion of the Energy Regulatory Commission in the coming weeks, then published.
It will be located in the eastern part of this area, more than 20 km from Pointe des Poulains de Belle-Île.
Ten pre-selected candidates must submit their offers in early 2023. The winner will be designated by the government in the spring.
Candidates will also be encouraged to minimize the final footprint of the park thanks to the introduction in the specifications of a new scoring criterion.
This move was made following public debate and additional consultations carried out recently, in particular with local elected officials, NGOs and the professional fishing sector.
Due to the location of the park on the maritime public domain, the wind developer who will be the winner of the call for tenders will have to pay the offshore wind tax, which should represent more than €4m per year throughout the lifetime of the park.
This will be divided between the coastal municipalities (50%), the fishing committees (35%), the OFB (10%) and the rescuers at sea (5%).
The consultation also continues on the project, led by the State and RTE, under the aegis of the guarantors appointed by the National Commission for Public Debate.
The commissioning of the park is planned for 2030. It is expected to produce the electricity needed to meet the needs of around 450,000 inhabitants, once operational.