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Consortium including BayWa and Elicio wins tender for France's very first floating offshore wind farm

A consortium consisting of Germany's BayWa r.e. and Belgium company Elicio won a tender to develop and operate France's first drifting offshore wind farm, the 250megawatt (MW) Bretagne Sud farm, French industry minister Roland Lescure stated on Wednesday.

The results were announced at a ceremony to mark the start of production at a 500-MW wind farm in Fecamp in northwestern France, the country's 2nd overseas wind task.

A third wind farm, likewise located off the coast of Brittany at Saint Brieuc, is anticipated to be completely commissioned in June.

The project will benefit from a state-guaranteed buy-back rate for twenty years set at 86.45 euros ($ 94.00) per megawatt-hour ( MWh), which the economy ministry stated revealed the competitiveness of the drifting wind sector.

France lags behind other countries in overseas wind due to complex permitting treatments and multiple appeals lodged versus tasks in advancement.

5 out of 8 wind farms tendered by the French federal government have actually been awarded to consortiums formed by state-owned power giant EDF.

The Bretagne Sud wind farm - France's very first wind farm to utilize floating turbines - will be approximately half the size of Fecamp and Saint-Nazaire, the other two operational wind farms.

The business said the wind farm, the 2nd floating wind job in Europe won by Elicio and BayWa R.E after the 960-MW Buchan job off the coast of Scotland, would supply power to more than 450,000 individuals each year.

In an effort to accelerate development, France launched a. tender for 4 offshore wind tasks amounting to 2.5 gigawatts.