France Presents Plan for 15 GW of Offshore Wind in 10 Years
On Friday, the Energy Minister Olga Givernet and Minister for the Sea and Fisheries Fabrice Loher gave an update on the government's plans to harness offshore wind. The two ministers announced that 15 GW of offshore wind projects are in the pipeline over the next 10 years. This puts France on track to become carbon neutral by 2050. As part of implementing this ambition, within the next several months France will launch tenders for two fixed and three floating wind farms totaling 9.2 GW.
“The new installations are part of national plans to have 45GW [of green power] by 2050. This is a signal for the industrial value chain, to tell them it’s not the moment to de-localize or draw up layoff plans,” said Givernet.
Some of the key maritime zones identified for offshore wind development include the English Channel and North Sea, Brittany and North Atlantic. However, special focus has been given to the Mediterranean region. The government is planning to produce 1.5 GW of offshore wind in this region by 2025 through two floating wind farms.
Offshore wind ports are also planned in the Mediterranean area. For instance, the Occitania region has pledged to invest over $360 million to refurbish ports in Sète and Port-la-nouvelle, turning them into hubs for construction, logistics and support for floating offshore wind farms.
Most importantly, the government has set a bold target of 50 percent local content in support of the domestic offshore wind supply chain. This comes amid reports that GE Vernova, a major global wind turbines manufacturer, is scaling back its operations in France. Unfortunately, this will involve downsizing its workforce, with as many as 900 jobs on the line.
RWE and National Grid Propose New York's Largest Offshore Wind Project
German utility RWE and New York power company National Grid have announced a proposal to build a 2.8 GW wind park off Long Island, the largest offshore wind power plan yet submitted to New York state energy regulator NYSERDA. It is the second time that it has submitted its Community Offshore Wind project for NYSERDA's approval: the previous bid was awarded, then canceled when the economic viability of first-generation U.S. offshore wind projects soured.
RWE and National Grid won a lease area in the New York Bight at auction in 2022, one of several awarded that year. The site has the potential for up to 3 GW of nameplate capacity, about a third of New York's 2030 target of 9 GW.
The developers pitched a 1.3 GW phase 1 project to NYSERDA under the name of "Community Offshore Wind," and in October 2023, they won a provisional offtake award greenlighting the project. The subsea power cable from the farm would land in Brooklyn, and Community Offshore Wind put heavy emphasis on a community benefits package totaling more than $500 million in wages and benefits for Brooklyn's disadvantaged communities.
Six months later, NYSERDA pulled the plug on Community Offshore Wind and two other projects, citing "technical and commercial complexities between provisional awardees and their partners." High interest rates, supply chain issues and labor availability have combined to make offshore wind much more expensive in the United States, and projects crafted during the 2020-22 era have encountered financial challenges. NYSERDA opened a path to rebid these projects at new, higher prices, and RWE/National Grid submitted a revised proposal for Community Offshore Wind in September 2024.
Under the enlarged 2.8 GW proposal, Community Offshore Wind would come online in two phases in 2030 and 2032. The first phase would connect to Brooklyn's Vinegar Hill neighborhood, and the second would tie in to a power station on Long Island. Like the initial plan, the new proposal is heavy on community benefits. The revised proposal would provide $64 million in job training; create 700 New York jobs, with a 35 percent disadvantaged community set-aside; deliver up to $300 million in wages; put $120 million into community programs, childcare and swimming lessons; invest $67 million in fisheries support programs; and create about $3 billion in economic activity - including over $2 billion in in-state spending.
Even before approval, RWE and National Grid have invested in community relations, including buying seafood from local fishermen to provide 40,000 free seafood meals for food banks throughout the state.
"This large-scale offshore wind proposal offers an exceptional opportunity for New York to dramatically expand its clean energy capacity while simultaneously creating new economic opportunities for families and workers across the state," said Doug Perkins, President and Project Director of Community Offshore Wind.
The development plan is redacted for confidentiality, and the proposed strike price is not publicly available. However, the previously-awarded and now-canceled strike price for Community Offshore Wind was $145 per megawatt hour.
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