Renewable energy company RWE Renewables France and offshore vessel services provider Bourbon Subsea Services have agreed to jointly bid for the Mediterranean floating offshore wind auction.
The two companies have applied to be selected as eligible bidder for the A06 tender, and the respective announcement by the French government is expected during the coming weeks.
Under A06, two sites for floating offshore wind will be developed, each with a planned installed capacity of about 250 megawatts (MW), with potential extensions leading to a total capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW).
Pierre Peysson, Director Offshore France at RWE Renewables France: “Our partnership with Bourbon Subsea Services, a market leader in the installation of floating offshore wind farms, supports RWE’s ambition to grow our floating offshore wind portfolio in the French Mediterranean. Combining our strengths and expertise, we look forward to working with Bourbon to advance the floating offshore wind industry, hand in hand with the communities we are both actively engaged with.”
“With our unique track record in installing floating wind turbine prototypes and pilot farms, our ambition is to participate very actively in the development of the French industrial sector. By signing this partnership with RWE, we are eager to better understand from the inside the needs of our customers and the industrial challenges necessary for the large-scale deployment of floating wind turbines,” says Patrick Belenfant, CEO of Bourbon Subsea Services.
According to the companies, floating offshore opens up the possibility of deploying offshore wind projects in regions with deeper waters like those in France, including in the Mediterranean sea. This contributes to capturing the full potential of renewable power generation.
Worth noting, RWE has been involved in three floating offshore wind demonstration projects in Norway (in operation), Spain (in construction) and the US (in development), each based on different concepts.
Also, RWE has qualified to participate in the offshore auction A04 “La Manche” together with Total Energies as a partner for a site off the coast of Normandy and in A05, for the French first commercial floating offshore wind project, off the coast of South Brittany.
Bourbon has installed most of the semi-submersible floating wind turbines in Europe. Recently,Bourbon signed a three-floaters pilot farm EPCI contract in the Mediterranean sea, and late 2021, the company installed the TetraSpar Demonstrator in Norway in collaboration with RWE.
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