The tender involves the installation of 1GW of wind turbines off the French coast. This includes 500MW near Le Tréport, northern France, and 500MW near the islands of Yeu and Noirmoutier, western France, by 2020.
The consortium is being led by the French energy company but includes Spanish renewable company EDP Renewables, French developer Neoen Marine and Areva.
The project, now backed by French regulator CRE, will use Areva’s new 8MW turbine.
GDF Suez teamed up with Areva to pitch in the first round, but its bid for the 750MW project at Le Tréport was rejected by the government because the proposed tariff was too high. Le Tréport is now being offered again, but with the capacity reduced to 500MW.
GDF-Suez is the country’s leading wind energy producer with more than 1,200MW capacity.
Areva has already announced the creation of an R&D centre in Rouen, northern France, which will have about one hundred engineers.
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