France tender signals offshore wind drive

FRANCE - The French government will next month launch a tender which will mark its entry to the offshore wind sector.

by Colin Marrs 31 August 2010

France currently has no offshore wind farms
According to Agence France-Presse, the tender will relate to 10 billion euros to build 3,000MW of offshore capacity.

Around 600 wind turbines will be built at five to ten sites in Normandy, Brittany and the regions of Pays de la Loire and Languedoc.

The French government has said that it wants to produce up to 6,000MW of offshore wind farms by 2020.

The first wind turbines resulting from this tender are set to be operational by 2015, according to the report.

Currently, France only produces a very small amount of power from wind farms, with no offshore facilities.

A previous offshore wind tender launched in 2004 by France attracted only one successful bid, for 105MW. The scheme is still held up in the planning process.