The European Commission has given its approval to support four demonstration floating wind farms off the coast of France.
Image: EU to provide aid for floating demo wind farms in France. Photo: Courtesy of Phil_Bird/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
The Commission stated that the four wind farms including Groix Belle Ile, Golf du Lion, Eolmed and Provence Grand Large, comply with its state aid rules. Out of the four, Groix Belle Ile will be located in the Atlantic Ocean and the remaining three will be located in the Mediterranean Sea.
It stated: “The European Commission has found four French projects promoting electricity generation from renewable wind energy sources to be in line with EU State aid rules. The measures will further contribute to reach EU energy and climate goals without unduly distorting competition in the Single Market.”
Powered by three or four turbines each, the four wind farms will each have a combined installed capacity of 24MW. The turbines will be installed in the sea on floating foundations and they will be interconnected with each other and connected to land through an underwater cable.
The European Commission stated that the four wind farms will receive investment aid as well as operating aid. Part of the investment aid will be paid in the form of repayable advances.
It added: “Each of the four demonstration wind farms will use a particular combination of turbine, floater and cables. The objective of the public support is to test these different technological solutions, with the long-term goal to test this technology before deploying it on a larger scale.”
The Commission has found that the French projects have the capability to promote the development of new type of offshore wind energy.
It also concluded that the four projects can promote the use of electricity from renewable energy sources and can help France in meeting its climate targets, without distorting the competition.