Ocean Winds and Banque des Territoires has teamed up to respond to France’s AO6 tender for floating offshore wind in the Mediterranean Sea.
The companies have joined forces to bid for two 250MW floating offshore wind sites in the tender call.
The AO6 tender call is part of the ambitions announced by the French government to accelerate the development of offshore wind power in France, with the objective of 40GW of installed capacity by 2050.
The tender was launched on 25 March 2022 and is expected to be awarded by the end of 2023.
Ocean Winds and Banque des Territoires have been partners since 2014, on the Dieppe Le Tréport and Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier offshore wind farms, and since 2016 on the Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL) floating offshore wind pilot project.
Ocean Winds’ expertise in floating offshore wind energy is based on WindFloat Atlantic, a semi-submersible offshore wind farm in operation since 2020 in waters off northern Portugal, EFGL as well as four floating projects accumulating 5.6GW in development in South Korea, the UK and the US.
Marc Hirt, Country manager for Ocean Winds in France, said: “We are very proud to announce this partnership with Banque des Territoires for participation in AO6.
“It seemed very natural to join forces given our common history since the launch of offshore wind ambitions in France, our convergences in terms of financial strategy, but most of all our shared values around the priority given to local content.
“The focus on creating a French industry to support national clean energy ambitions is a pillar of our joint work on the Dieppe Le Tréport, Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier and EFGL offshore wind farms, and will also be a pillar in our bid for the AO6.”