Bids to build a 600 MW offshore wind farm off the coast of Dunkirk came in at a winning price of “below” €50/MWh the French Government announced. The winning bid came from a consortium led by EDF Renewables, Innogy and Enbridge.
France’s multi-year energy plan had until now only modest offshore targets of 2.4 GW by 2023 and around 5 GW by 2028. But this week the French Government also announced its intention to tender 1GW of offshore wind per year up to 2028. This would mean 6.5GW of offshore installed by 2028 and 11.5GW tendered: around 6% of French electricity consumption.
France initially launched offshore wind tender rounds for 3GW of offshore wind in 2012 and 2014. But legal procedures against the projects slowed things down, and only now is the first of the projects (Saint-Nazaire) ready for final investment decision. France’s first fixed-bottom offshore wind farms are expected to be connected to the grid in 2020-2022.