France to Launch Massive Offshore Wind Tender as Gov’t Bundles AO9 and AO10 into Single Round

France plans to award around 10 GW of offshore wind capacity through the combined AO9 and AO10 tenders, with the procedure to be launched in the coming months and results expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

The two tenders have been grouped into a single large-scale procurement forming the core of a broader 12 GW renewable energy tender programme, with the upcoming offshore wind procedure to cover multiple sites and technologies under a single framework, according to a press release issued on 2 April by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.

As previously reported, through AO9, France was looking to select developers for a floating wind farm with an installed capacity of between 400 MW and 550 MW in South Brittany, two floating wind farms each with an installed capacity of between 450 MW and 550 MW in the Mediterranean, and a fixed-bottom offshore wind farm with an installed capacity of between 1,000 MW and 1,250 MW in the South Atlantic. In 2024, the government pre-qualified twelve companies and consortia for the tender.

The AO10 was being developed towards awarding around 9 GW of offshore wind capacity across 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.

With the two tenders now combined, the offshore wind capacity in the upcoming procedure will be split between fixed-bottom and floating technologies, with approximately 5 GW allocated to each and projects located across all French maritime areas.

“With a combined capacity of approximately 10 GW, including 5 GW of fixed-bottom and 5 GW of floating wind power, distributed across all its maritime coastlines, France aims to become a world leader in the development of floating wind power, with a target of nearly 6 GW by 2040”, the Ministry said on 2 April.

France has set a target of 45 GW offshore wind capacity by 2050, representing 20 per cent ​​of the country’s electricity needs. Under its Third Multiannual Energy Programme (PPE 3), the government aims to reach an installed capacity of 15 GW by 2035.

The French government is also introducing new selection criteria in the new tendering process, including requirements related to industrial resilience, environmental performance and cybersecurity. These criteria will be applied in conjunction with price during the evaluation of bids.

According to the Ministry of Economy, the measures will be implemented to limit the use of certain non-European components in offshore wind projects, with particular attention to strategic equipment such as turbines and permanent magnets, as part of the tender conditions.

“The specifications for the procedure will, for the first time, incorporate supply resilience criteria from the European Net Zero Industry Act, in order to maximise the industrial benefits of offshore wind power in the European territory”, the Ministry of Economy stated.

“The design of this tender also aims to optimize project costs. The measures planned by the Government aim to achieve an average allocation tariff of less than €100/MWh.”

In addition to offshore wind, France also plans to launch tenders to award approximately 2 GW of capacity for other renewable technologies, including solar PV and onshore wind, bringing the total capacity across all renewable energy tenders to around 12 GW.

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