Six developer candidates have been chosen to move to the next phase in the French Government’s tender for an up to 1050MW offshore wind project off Normandy.
The six developers are Iberdrola, Shell, Ocean Winds (Engie and EDPR joint venture), Eoliennes en Mer Manche Normandie, a project company of EDF Renouvelables and Maple Power (Maple Power is a joint venture of Enbridge and CPPIB), a Total and RWE consortium and a consortium formed by Vattenfall, WPD and Banque des Territoires.
Back in January, France’s Commission de regulation de l’energie (CRE) opened a competitive dialogue process to select the developer of the offshore wind farm off the Cotentin Peninsula.
The selected candidates will now enter a competitive dialogue procedure with the state bodies in the coming months, with the aim of reducing project costs and giving candidates the opportunity to improve their offers during the procedure.
The final award decision is expected to be made public in February 2022, said Iberdrola.
The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2028.
The designation of the winner is therefore scheduled for 2022 with a view to commissioning the park planned for 2028.
Fixed foundation technology will be used, given the water depths.
Iberdrola offshore wind business director Javier Garcia Perez said: “The continued development of offshore wind energy is vital to decarbonise the economy.
“Normandy represents a major milestone for France’s energy transition, as it is the first project within the Multiannual Energy Plan which states the French Government’s commitment to award 1GW of offshore wind per year.
“As a world leader in offshore wind, with major projects already operating in the North Sea and the Baltic, and with the construction of Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm underway, we are confident that we can bring our expertise and delivery capabilities to the development of this new project.”