French consortium bids for first floating Med wind power
Bids to build France's first floating wind power arrays went in to Ademe, the country's environment and energy management agency, yesterday. A consortium, including ENGIE, EDP Renewables, Caisse des Dépôts and Eiffage, is vying to win acreage for pilot projects in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean in a joint proposal. The four partners plan to use turbines rated to 6MW each for a wind park near Leucate. The machines will be joined with an integrated semi-submersible-type floating foundation, using Principle Power’s WindFloat technology, which has already been demonstrated in Portugal. Eiffage Metal will manufacture and install the floats.
A consortium of ENGIE, EDP Renewables, Caisse des Dépôts and Eiffage have submitted their pilot floating wind farm proposal to ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency. The project, Les éoliennes flottantes du golfe du Lion, would see the installation of 3 to 6 wind turbines, each with a minimum capacity of 6MW each.From the five proposed project areas, the consortium chose the Leucate site on the Mediterranean due to its exceptional winds.Turbines will be mounted on semi-submersible type floating foundations proposed by Eiffage Métal. The concept was developed by Principle Power at its Aix-en-Provence engineering center and has been tested off the coast of Portugal since 2011 in the form of the WindFloat 1 Prototype . Eiffage Métal will manufacture and install the floats.If awarded, the consortium will call upon a network of French businesses along the Mediterranean coast for the project's main components, particularly in the Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées region. The region’s port infrastructure will be used for assembly and maintenance operations and will provide the main components of the pre-commercial facilities.