RWE and Valorem to Jointly Bid in French Offshore Wind Tender | Offshore Wind - Offshore WIND
RWE and Valorem to Jointly Bid in French Offshore Wind Tender | Offshore Wind
RWE and Valorem to Jointly Bid in French Offshore Wind Tender
RWE and Valorem have signed a partnership agreement to jointly respond to the call for tenders for the offshore wind project off the island of Oléron (AO7), France.
As part of this call for tenders, a landed offshore wind farm with an installed capacity of about 1,000 MW will be deployed about forty kilometers from the island of Oléron for commissioning by 2032-33.
The project reception area covers a maximum area of 180 square kilometres and has an average depth of about 60 metres. This is the offshore wind project furthest from the French coast and with significant sea depths. The selected area is also outside the Gironde Estuary and Pertuis Sea Marine Natural Park, which was advocated by RWE and Valorem during the public debate, the companies said.
The call for tenders was launched in October 2022 and a designation of the winner is expected in 2024.
RWE and Valorem will jointly participate in the competitive dialogue, the next step in the tender process following prequalification.
Bertrand Guidez, Deputy CEO of the VALOREM Group, said: “VALOREM is a pioneer in green energies in France with nearly 30 years of experience in the development of regional energy resources. As a company with a mission, VALOREM likes to develop innovation around its projects – whether in citizen financing, professional integration or environmental preservation solutions. We are particularly proud of this partnership, especially with a renowned player as ambitious as RWE, which concretely affirms our position as a co-investor in the development of offshore wind projects. We will try to carry out together a real territorial project and submit a robust, competitive and attractive offer.”
RWE said that France is one of the company’s main strategic markets. The company is positioned on all French offshore wind power tenders, whether with technology installed off the Normandy coast with the AO8 and Charentaise with the AO7, or through floating technologies south of Brittany (AO5) and off the Mediterranean (AO6).
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“We already have more than 200 employees in France, present throughout the country and bring to the daily life all the expertise of a group resolutely committed to the development of renewable energies,” Pierre Peysson, RWE’s Director France Offshore Wind Energy, said.
“As the most experienced operator in offshore wind in France, we are proud to join forces for this call for tenders with VALOREM, a key player in the territory where the future offshore wind farm will be located. Together, we will defend an offer designed in close consultation with the territory to propose an innovative, competitive project, respectful of the environment and users of the sea, while offering many economic and industrial benefits. This partnership also echoes our shared history of close cooperation between RWE and VALOREM in onshore wind power during the 2000s.”
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.