If all the projects go ahead, France’s offshore wind capacity would reach 15GW by 2035 (image: turbine at Provence Grand Large)Obatala-photography/Shutterstock
Tenders for 10 new offshore windfarms have been put out by the French government, with winning bids due to be announced before the 2027 presidential election.
If all the projects go ahead, France’s offshore wind capacity would reach 15GW by 2035, roughly equivalent to the generating capacity of six nuclear power stations.
However, electricity prices are unlikely to fall as a result. This is because the investments in the wind farms will be enormous, and the returns fixed by the government are linked to those expected for nuclear power.
France has some of the lowest electricity prices in Europe; 2026 figures from the World Population Review, in US dollars, put France at an average of $0.28/kWh, with only Portugal, Spain and Greece paying less. By contrast the UK and Germany both pay $0.40/kWh.
There are already two offshore wind farms in France, which produce 2GW. In addition, approval has been granted for another block, which should produce 5.6GW.
If all the projects go ahead, France’s offshore wind capacity would reach 15GW by 2035, roughly equivalent to the generating capacity of six nuclear power stations
Angry exchanges
Renewable energy provoked weeks of angry exchanges in parliament in the run-up to the budget, with both far-left and far-right parties strongly opposed to most of the government’s proposals.
The broad lines of the policy, as it is now being implemented, are for the baseload of the nation’s electricity supply to remain from nuclear power.
This will include the construction of six new EPR2 nuclear power stations – although financing has not yet been confirmed.
On a cloudy afternoon in mid-May, nuclear power accounted for 63% of electricity production, with solar power accounting for 21%, hydroelectric power 9%, wind power 5% and the rest coming from bio-sourced gas and fuel.
Previous government efforts to encourage the uptake of domestic solar panels have been cut back. The guaranteed price to sell back electricity produced from them is down to €0.04/kWh, four times less than the price paid for grid electricity.
It is part of government plans to refocus the solar panel sector on ‘self-consumption’, as well as cut down expenditure.
Securing investment
In order to attract the investment needed for the new wind farms, the state will promise an electricity price ceiling of under €100/MWh, with the figure being based on the €100/MWh guaranteed for the future nuclear reactors.
Price ceilings are designed to protect developers and investors from low prices so they can be confident of a long-term return.
A ceiling of €100/MWh was used last year in a tender to build a wind farm of 1,200MW off the island of Oléron (Charente-Maritime). However, the project received no bids as investors said it was too low.
They were also deterred by the opposition the project provoked. As well as being criticised for spoiling views, there were fears it could damage the seabeds which are vital to the area’s oyster farming, and that the engineering did not take into account complex local tide patterns.
Of the 10 wind farm projects outlined, four will place turbines in shallow waters with foundations on the seabeds, including the Oléron one. The others will have floating turbines, which are anchored in place.
Tenders will favour companies which promise to buy their turbines from French factories in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique), Cherbourg (Manche) and Le Havre (Seine-Maritime).
By doing so, the government is optimistic it can boost the number of jobs in the offshore turbine sector from 8,000 in 2024 to 30,000 by 2035.
Plans for a new factory to make heavy-duty cables for offshore wind turbines will also be put into action if the tenders attract successful bids, and the government has promised €260million to improve port infrastructure so the turbines can be serviced.
The challenges of getting renewable energy projects off the ground were illustrated recently when opponents of a solar power plant in Côte-d'Or went to the tribunal administratif to demand that planning permission be revoked.
Covering 57 hectares with 67,000 solar panels in the village of Petit-Jailly, residents complained it would affect their view, saying they feared looking out on a “black sea”.
