The European Commission has given France the green light to support the construction and operation of two floating offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Lion with EUR 4.12 billion, which will be awarded through a tender the French government is expected to launch next year.
Developers of the two floating wind farms, each of which is expected to have a capacity of between 230 MW and 280 MW, will be granted subsidies from the EUR 4.12 billion pot before 31 December 2025 and will receive support for 20 years in the form of a monthly variable premium.
The premium, awarded under a two-way contract for difference (CfD), will be calculated by comparing a reference price, determined in the tender offer of the selected developer, as well as by the market price for electricity. The latter will see the developer receive payments equal to the difference between the two prices when the market price is below the reference price but when it is above the reference price, the developer will have to pay the difference to the French authorities.
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After France notified the European Commission (EC), under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, about its planned EUR 4.12 billion scheme to support the two floating wind farms, the EC found that the scheme was in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework.
“The Commission concluded that the French scheme is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to accelerate the green transition and facilitate the development of certain economic activities, which are of importance for the implementation of the REPower EU Plan and the Green Deal Industrial Plan, in line with Article 107(3)(c) TFEU and the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework,” the European Commission said in a press release on 7 December. “On this basis, the Commission approved the aid measure under EU State aid rules.”
At the beginning of this year, France got the EC approval for a EUR 2.08 billion scheme to support a floating wind project off the coast of South Brittany.
In the Gulf of Lion, the country already has two pilot floating wind farms, the now-operational Provence Grand Large floating offshore wind project off the coast of Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône and the Eoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL) floating wind farm which is currently under construction off Aude.