By Nicoletta Zappile | January 16, 2012 - 17:04 GMT 
The French government has set the target of providing enough offshore wind capacity to power millions of homes. A consortium led by Iberdrola, a leading Spanish energy company, has announced (January 12) the submission of two bids for the French wind farm projects.
Iberdrola, whose partners include France’s Eole Res, specialists in the design, development, construction and operation of renewable energy projects, together with turbine manufacturer Areva, engineering and construction company Technip, and the developer Neoen Marine, can harness one gigawatt of wind capacity in French waters. This means that 1.2 million of homes could benefit from energy produced offshore.
The wind farms will be located in the Saint-Brieuc Bay and off the Saint-Nazaire coast in Loire Atlantique. Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of ScottishPower Renewables and Iberdrola’s Global Offshore Division said, “The submission of the bids for these sites is the first stage of a major challenge, which we aim to meet with the help of our partners.” “Engineers and project managers in our headquarters in Glasgow will have a key role in supporting the projects, and will oversee a consortium that has worldwide experience of developing major renewable energy projects and a wealth of technological expertise,” he added.
The winning bids will be announced later this year and the French government plans the first wind farms to be operational in 2015. “Our consortium has put in a huge amount of effort to put together two very detailed bids in response to the French government’s tender,” said Anderson. Will France start reducing its nuclear program? By investing in this field, the French government seems to be interested in expanding and diversifying its renewable portfolio. France's energy generation is notably reliant on nuclear energy (around 75%). According to National Renewable Energy Action Plans submitted in 2010, France has set the objective of consuming 23% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.
In the meantime, Iberdrola is developing other wind projects in the East Irish Sea, off the West coast of Scotland and in the German Baltic Sea. Investments in this field don’t seem to be a problem, “What is hurting the deployment of renewable energy in general, and wind in particular, is the uncertainty about whether the support schemes are still going to be there 12 or 24 months from now,” said Morton Albaek, Senior Vice President at Vestas, in an interview with The Global Journal. The constant changes in legislation and regulation continue to curb wind energy development.
(Photo © Slaunger via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)
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