Ocean Winds partners up for French 500-MW floating wind tender

January 18 (Renewables Now) - French financial services provider Banque des Territoires has joined the Ocean Winds joint venture (JV) in a bid for two 250-MW floating wind sites in France’s upcoming AO6 tender, the partners said on Tuesday.

The 50/50 JV of utilities EDP Renewables (ELI:EDPR) and Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) was in the group of bidders selected by the French government in August last year to proceed to the second stage of the competition.

The pair of projects will be located in the Gulf of Lyon in the Mediterranean Sea, and could be expanded to 750 MW each in a second phase, the French government said at the time.

Ocean Winds and Banque de Territoires are already partners on a floating wind farm project off the French Mediterranean coast through the 30-MW Eoliennes flottantes du golfe du Lion (EFGL) pilot scheme. Their cooperation goes back to 2014 with the Dieppe Le Treport and Yeu-Noirmoutier bottom-fixed offshore wind projects in French waters.

“Banque des Territoires is delighted to confirm this commitment to contribute to the deployment of floating offshore wind power on a commercial scale. We believe that this innovative technology is one of the keys to achieving national renewable energy production objectives,” said Emmanuel Legrand, the bank’s Director of the Energy and Ecological Transition at the Investment Department.

The AO6 projects are expected to the awarded by the end of 2023.