France Picks Tidal Power Winners

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The French government has awarded a new wave of tidal energy contracts as the country hopes to overcome a late start to become a major player in the budding marine energy sector.

GDF Suez SA (EPA:GSZ) (Paris) and French engineering firm, Alstom S.A. (Levallois-Perret, France) have been chosen for a pilot project at Raz Blanchard, west of the Cotentin peninsula. EDF Energies Nouvelles, the renewable energy arm of Electricité de France SA (EDF) (EPA:EDF) (Paris), along with partners marine engineering company Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS) (Paris) and turbine manufacturer OpenHydro (Dublin, Ireland), also secured permission for a larger project in Raz Blanchard.

The decision comes just over a year after France heralded its entrance into the tidal sector, when French President François Hollande called for "expressions of interest" for up to four pilot projects off the Brittany and Normandy coasts. It called for the creation of three or four tidal farms, each comprising 5-10 turbines, which would be located at two sites, the Raz Blanchard off the coast of northwest France, and the Fromveur, off Finistère. Winning firms will be liable for subsidies from the state amounting to €30 million ($40.8 million) per project, while electricity generated will be purchased by state-owned energy giant, Electricite de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) (EDF) (Paris, France), at a set tariff of €173 ($235) per megawatt hour (MWh). For additional information, see October 7, 2013, article - French President Launches Tidal Power Race.

GDF and Alstom's 5.6-megawatt (MW) project will use four of Alstom's Oceade 18 tidal turbines rated at 1.4 MW each, as well as the company's electrical subsea hub. The tidal farm, which is expected to be commissioned in 2017, will produce power for approximately 5,000 homes. A 500 kilowatt (kW) and 1 MW version of the Oceade turbine has been tested over the past number of years at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Scotland. GDF is also pushing for permission for a separate tidal project in the Fromveur, off Finistère.

The NORMANDIE HYDRO by the EDF consortium will see seven of OpenHydro's 2 MW turbines installed in the Raz Blanchard. They are expected to be connected to the grid by 2018 when they will supply electricity to some 13,000 homes.

Thierry Kalanquin, chairman of OpenHydro and director of the Marine Energy and Infrastructure Division of DCNS, declared: "The selection of this project by ADEME gives a further push to the development of a French tidal energy industry, for which Cherbourg will be the driver. The array that we will deploy in the Raz Blanchard, along with EDF Energies Nouvelles, will allow us to meet market schedules and respond to future calls for tender for future commercial tidal turbine arrays, both in France and around the world".

The French tidal push comes at a rough time for the marine energy sector, with a number of losses announced earlier this week. Scotland's Aquamarine Power Limited (Edinburgh, Scotland) announced that it was significantly scaling down its business, while German engineering giant Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) announced its exit from the sector. For additional information, see December 9, 2014, article - Wave of Losses Swamps Marine Energy Sector.

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