The French Directorate General for Energy and Climate (DGEC) has launched a consultation on proposals for the country’s tenth offshore wind call for tenders (AO10), which is expected to award around 9 GW of capacity.
A call for tenders is set to be launched in the upcoming months, aimed at awarding contracts for the development of 8.4 GW to 9.2 GW of new offshore wind capacity by the end of 2026. The projects from AO10 are anticipated to begin operations by 2035.
The consultation aims to gather feedback on whether 2 GW plots should be allocated to one large project or divided into smaller projects, each with a capacity of around 1 GW, with shared connections.
In addition, the DGEC is seeking input on the proposed plot locations, target commissioning dates, project timelines, and guidelines to ensure that no single bidder secures all the tenders. The consultation closes on 4 April.
The projects are located on the various French coastlines, in the areas identified in the decision of 17 October 2024, following the public debate on the updating of the strategic sections of the coastline strategy documents and the mapping of priority maritime and land areas for offshore wind energy.
A competitive tendering procedure is planned for launch in the coming months, aiming to award projects in the following areas: two projects of approximately 2 GW each on the eastern English Channel coastline; a floating wind project of about 1.2 GW or 2 GW on the North Atlantic-Western Channel coastline; a floating wind project of around 1.2 GW on the South Atlantic coast; and a floating wind project of approximately 2 GW on the Mediterranean coast.
These projects will be connected using direct current technology, with a voltage level of 320 kV for projects of around 1.1 GW or 1.2 GW and 525 kV for wind farms of approximately 2 GW.
The AO9 tender, which offers four new sites for offshore wind development, was launched in July 2024. Several months later, the French government announced that it had pre-qualified twelve candidates for the tender.
Currently, France has three operational offshore wind farms, with the most recent addition being the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc project . The wind farm is the second largest in the nation and the first to be built in Brittany.
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