The European Commission has agreed to support six large offshore wind projects in France as they are in line with European Union (EU) state aid rules. The EU ruled that the windfarms were in line with its energy and climate goals without distorting competition in the single market.
Located in territorial waters off the North-Western coast of France, the windfarms are expected to help France in reducing carbon emissions as well as electricity generation.
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The six sites are Courselles-sur-Mer, Fécamp, Saint-Nazaire, Iles d’Yeu / Noirmoutier, Dieppe / Le Tréport and Saint-Brieuc. They will be the first selected offshore windfarms supported by France.
Featuring 62 to 83 turbines, each wind farm will have an installed capacity of 450MW to 498MW, and the installations will receive support in the form of feed-in tariffs for 20 years.
Construction works at the site are expected to begin later this year and the facilities should be operational as of 2022. Once operational, the windfarms will increase France’s renewables generation capacity by about 3GW.
The Commission assessed the six support measures under EU State aid rules before approving the windfarms, particularly its 2008 guidelines on state aid for environmental protection.
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By GlobalDataAfter completing the assessment, the Commission identified that the support measures will help France boost its share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources to meet its climate targets.
It also found that the aid granted to the six projects is equal and does not entail overcompensation of the beneficiaries, in line with the requirements of the guidelines.
