RWE Renewables France and Bourbon Subsea Services have signed a partnership agreement to jointly bid for the Mediterranean floating offshore wind auction.
The partners have applied to be selected as eligible bidders for the A06 tender, with the announcement by the French government expected during the coming weeks.
Under A06, two sites for floating offshore wind will be developed, each with a planned installed capacity of about 250MW, with potential extensions leading to a total capacity of 1.5GW.
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Pierre Peysson, director offshore France at RWE Renewables France said in a statement: “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.
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According to RWE, floating offshore wind opens up the possibility of deploying offshore wind projects in regions with deeper waters like those in France, including in the Mediterranean sea, maximising the renewables resource.
To this end, RWE and partners are continuing with three floating offshore wind demonstration projects in Norway (in operation), Spain (in construction) and the US (in development), each based on different concepts.
Furthermore, 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 Subsea Services is a subsidiary of BOURBON, a French maritime services provider. In May 2021, BOURBON signed a three-floaters pilot farm EPCI contract in the Mediterranean sea, and in late 2021, completed the installation and start-up of the TetraSpar Demonstrator in Norway in close collaboration with RWE.
