French oil and gas giant Total, Danish energy company Ørsted and Belgium’s Elicio have partnered to form an industrial consortium to submit a bid for the Dunkirk offshore wind farm in France for a capacity of up to 600MW.

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Image: Total Ørsted and Elicio form consortium to bid for Dunkirk offshore wind farm. Photo: courtesy of Falk Schaaf/Freeimages.com.

In late 2016, France launched the tender for the development of the Dunkirk offshore wind farm. The French government is expected to announce the winning bidder in mid-2019.

Belgian renewable producer Elicio was pre-selected by the French Energy Regulatory Commission to bid for the project along with nine other companies, as reported by French media.

Elicio France president Emile Dumont said: “Wind energy has significant growth potential in France and is at the heart of Elicio’s strategy to contribute towards a cleaner and cost-effective energy powered world.

“Further to Elicio’s successful preselection for the French round 3 competitive dialogue and by joining our unique expertise and experience, we are committed, with our partners Total and Ørsted, to making this tender a milestone in the French offshore wind sector”.

The proposed offshore wind project, with a maximum capacity of 750MW, is planned to be built about 10km off the Dunkirk coast in northern France. It is part of the third round of tenders launched by France for the development of offshore wind farms.

The Dunkirk offshore wind farm is expected to be spread over 70km2 area.

Expected to be commissioned by 2022, the Dunkirk offshore wind project will take France a step closer towards generating more than 3GW of energy from renewable resources, particularly from offshore wind by 2023.

Total gas, renewables and power president Philippe Sauquet said: “Total’s participation in this offshore wind bid is in line with our strategy to develop low-carbon electricity business in Europe.

“Our recognized offshore oil and gas know-how combined with Ørsted market-leading expertise across the offshore wind energy value chain, as well as that of Elicio, an experienced developer qualified from the beginning of the bid, provide a solid foundation for success of a safe and competitive project.”

In November 2018, Belgium-based DEME Group partnered with Quadran Energies Marines and Royal Dutch Shell through a consortium called Moulins de Flandre to bid for the Dunkirk offshore wind farm.

In March 2017, Engie and EDPR, which worked before on two French offshore wind projects, confirmed submitting bids for the Dunkirk project.