France to hold public debate on new offshore wind tenders

France plans to launch a public debate into expanding its offshore wind fleet ahead of new tenders, French president Emmanuel Macron has said. 

Macron made the pledge yesterday (25 September) while outlining his plan to speed up France’s energy transition from fossil fuels to "green" sources of energy, 

A political meeting “in October or November” would be convened to arrange public consultations on new offshore wind projects, Macron said. 

The coming deployment of offshore wind power “will make it possible to meet the objective of calls for tenders by the end of 2024” Macron added, signalling that new auctions would be scheduled for the end of next year. 

The French government is already overseeing offshore wind auctions including a tender for up to 1GW of offshore wind off the coast of Oléron, which launched in 2020 with a price target of around €60/MWh. The winner of that auction is expected to be announced by French energy regulator CRE next year. 

The country is targeting at least 18GW of offshore wind by 2035 and 40GW by 2050. 

Macron’s announcement comes against a backdrop of protests and legal challenges against the development of offshore wind by fishermen who work on the Atlantic west coast, which is earmarked to host future offshore wind projects.