Rugy talks about "realistic goals" for offshore wind

"We wanted to have realistic objectives," said Wednesday the Minister of Ecological Transition François de Rugy, the day after the announcements of the executive to develop marine renewable energies, coldly welcomed by professionals in the sector.

"I understand that the marine renewable energy industries want more and better, that means that we have economic and industrial sectors in France who wish to engage fully in renewable energy," said the minister in front of the press, in Brest, on the occasion of the Economic Assises of the Sea.

"However, we wanted to have realistic objectives, realistic in view of technological development especially for so-called floating wind, but also from the economic point of view," he noted.

"We want to have a price competitiveness of the electricity produced by marine renewable energies that is as large as possible," said Mr. de Rugy, calling his wishes "a form of pressure on manufacturers to make have the best prices ".

"Obviously, we will be able to evolve in the future on increasing capacity if we have a price cut," he said.

The Multiannual Energy Program (EPP) for the next ten years was presented Tuesday by President Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of Ecological Transition.

They promised a tripling of wind energy by 2030. Regarding offshore wind, the first fleet will be commissioned off Saint-Nazaire during the five-year period "and we will launch four new tenders", said Emmanuel Macron.

The executive is targeting up to 35.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in onshore wind in 2028 and up to 5.2 GW at sea.

"In the coming years," there will be 2.5 to 3 GW of installed capacity for offshore wind and 1 GW for floating wind, said François de Rugy Brest.

Renewable marine energy companies meeting since Tuesday at the Assises de la Mer, however, pleaded "for more clarity" and "means" from the government.

On the maritime side, the EPP "lacks a little bit of clarity", estimated the director of renewable marine energies of EDF Renouvelables, Béatrice Buffon, during an intervention in front of some 1,500 people. It is necessary to "clarify the deadlines and the volumes of tenders after 2023", she pleaded.

In terms of floating wind "we are talking about two tenders, yet we have three maritime facades, three regions that are fully engaged," said the director general of Engie France Renouvelable Gwenaëlle Huet, citing Occitanie, Paca and Brittany. "How is it possible to only bid twice?" she asked herself.

According to the Presidents of Brittany region, Loïg Chesnais-Girard, Normandy (Hervé Morin), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Alain Rousset) Occitanie (Carole Delga), Pays-de-Loire (Christelle Morançais), PACA (Renaud Muselier) and the President of France Wind energy (FEE) and the Union of renewable energies (SER) the announcements of Mr. de Rugy sound like a "thunderclap" for the sector.

"The government says its ambitions, but proposes a very limited development of offshore wind and floating in France in the coming years with, in the best case, 5 GW in service in 2028 while the professionals and the territories proposed 10 ", they emphasize.

According to them, these announcements "call into question the economic models of the sector" and "suggest a disaster scenario for the development of a sector of the maritime economy yet competitive and promising".

The six regional presidents are asking the government to "review its roadmap" for the offshore wind industry "in order to meet the collective ambition (at least 1 GW per year)" and ask to be received by the Prime Minister.

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