The call for projects of pilot floating wind farms fills up with candidates By Manuel Moragues Usine Nouvelle on April 05, 2016,
The call for projects for floating wind energy closed on Monday 4 April. A larger than expected number of applicants would have come forward to build pilot farms. The challenge: to get a head start in this emerging market. The vastness of the oceans is the dream of wind power manufacturers. This is evidenced by the success of the French call for projects for pilot floating wind farms, which closed on Monday, April 4. A source close to the file testified Monday: "There are more candidates than expected. Turbiniers, manufacturers of floats, energy companies ... It's a great competition between French and European players. About ten projects should be submitted."
Monday evening, a grouping was revealed: Engie, EDP Renewables, Caisse des Dépôts and Eiffage announced in a press release their candidacy for the Leucate area, in the Mediterranean. The project, called "The floating wind turbines of the Gulf of Lion", aims to install "3 to 6 wind turbines of 6 MW minimum each" with "an integrated solution of semi-submersible float proposed by Eiffage Metal. The concept, developed by Principle Power in its engineering center in Aix-en-Provence, has been tested since 2011 off the coast of Portugal, ”the press release said.
After Engie, Alstom and DCNS?This Tuesday, April 5 in the afternoon, a press conference announced by the Brittany Region should reveal another candidate group in the area of the island of Groix (Morbihan). General Electric (ex-Alstom) and DCNS should be the main suppliers. The two manufacturers joined forces in late 2014 to float the Haliade wind turbine from Alstom on a DCNS float. The latter signed at the same time an agreement with the Brittany Region to develop the Groix site.
The winners should be known at the end of April, recently promised Environment Minister Ségolène Royal. The projects, which must have three to six high-power wind turbines, will be located in the four zones selected by the government. That of the island of Groix and three others in the Mediterranean.
The winners will share a budget of 150 million euros (including at least 2/3 reimbursable in advance) and a price for the purchase of electricity which should be between 200 and 250 euros / MWh according to a source familiar with the matter.
These pilot farms should allow manufacturers to validate the performance and reliability of their floating wind turbine technologies in a real situation. The "mini-park" format will also test installation and maintenance methods. For manufacturers, this is the way to acquire early and valuable feedback in order to position themselves as quickly as possible in this emerging market.
6000 megawatts targeted by 2030The challenge is to arrive as seasoned as possible for the first commercial fields, whose tenders could fall in two years, hopes France Energie Eolienne (FEE), the association which brings together French industrialists in the sector. FEE aims to install 6 megawatts of floating wind power by 000 off the French coast.
Norway, Portugal and Scotland - where the Hywind pilot project promises its first electrons in 2017 - are the other European countries that are betting on the float. Japan, with its deep waters, is also in the experimental phase. Much stronger and more regular winds, less discomfort for fishermen and better public acceptance… Everything pushes wind turbines towards the open sea.
But beyond 50 meters, laying them is too expensive, they must float. A challenge for giants with 500-ton nacelles perched 100 meters high. The challenge for the engineers is to limit the efforts on the structure - generated by the wind resistance of the turbine - to minimize the size, and therefore the price of the float. While of course maintaining good electricity production. A puzzle to solve before embarking.
EDP Renewables offshore floating wind turbine