Two Floating Windfarms Green Lit in France

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Cutting edge floating offshore windfarms advanced in Europe this week with two projects in France getting the green light.

The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) has awarded a contract to the EolMed consortium for its project located 15 kilometres off the shore of Gruissan in southern France and another to a consortium led by Eolfi (Paris) for its proposed project in Groix, Brittany. The projects are expected to have generating capacities of around 24 megawatts (MW) and up to 30 MW, respectively. Both projects will receive an unspecified amount from the government's $165 million support fund for the emerging technology.

Senvion SE (FWB: RPW) (Hamburg, Germany), formerly known as REpower Systems, has been contracted to supply four of its 6.2M152 wind turbines for the EolMed project. The turbines have been specially adapted for installation on the floating platform.

Olivier Perot, managing director of Senvion France said: "Senvion has unique experience in the high capacity offshore wind sector with an installed fleet of over 750 MW globally. We are delighted to provide the first floating windfarm pilot in France."

The turbines will be attached to the Floatgen system from Ideol (La Ciotat, France), which boasts a ring-shaped damping pool floater, which measures just 55 metres across and is claimed by the company to be the cheapest option on the market. It is compatible with all existing standard offshore turbines.

The Groix project will use the Spinfloat system, a vertical-axis wind turbine rated at up to 6 MW and mounted on a braceless semi-submersible floating platform. Vertical-axis turbines require less stabilisation than standard turbines which, Eolfi maintained, means the platform can be lighter and cheaper to make. A full-size demonstrator is expected by 2018/19. The company has plans to develop up to 3- gigawatts (GW) of projects in the Mediterranean and a further 2 GW in Taiwan.

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