Offshore wind power: France launches a giant tender to significantly increase its capacity

This tender, known as "AO10", "truly marks a change of scale," the Ministry of Energy indicated on Thursday. "It is one of the most important offshore wind development programs ever undertaken in Europe, with a clear ambition: to build abundant, decarbonized, and sovereign energy."

It represents nearly 10 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity spread across all maritime fronts: Fécamp-Grand-Large, Bretagne-Nord-Ouest, Bretagne-Sud, Oléron, Narbonnaise Sud Hérault, Golfe du Lion Centre and Golfe de Fos.

Half of it concerns fixed-bottom wind turbines, whose masts are fixed to the seabed, and the other half floating wind turbines, which allow for operations to be located further from the coast.

The goal is to reach 15 GW of installed capacity by 2035, as outlined in France's energy roadmap (PPE3) published in February. This aims to reduce the share of oil and gas in France's final energy consumption, in favor of decarbonized energy sources, primarily electricity.

By 2050, it plans 45 GW of installed capacity, compared to 2 GW currently.

"Faced with geopolitical tensions which have reminded everyone of the importance of controlling our energy supply and faced with the imperative of reindustrializing the country, we must accelerate," the ministry added.

The publication of "AO10", a few weeks after the government launched its electrification plan, paves the way for the continued development of the sector, which stalled in 2025.

The tender is based on a weighted average price of €100 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity over a 25-year period. To maintain these prices, the plan is to favor projects expanding existing fields in order to limit connection costs to the electricity transmission network.

A "maintenance bonus" is also being introduced to encourage producers to maintain their parks when electricity prices are low, particularly in the summer when solar production is at its peak.

"This allows for economically efficient management of the park so that they produce when electricity is most valuable," explains a spokesperson at the ministry. "We compensate for its maintenance at the lowest cost since it's a time when electricity is least valuable."

The specifications include for the first time eligibility and rating criteria favouring European manufacturers, particularly French ones, such as the maximum number of components from China or the promotion of projects with a low carbon footprint.

"The project only makes sense if there is a French and European industrial venture and if we have massive industrial spin-offs," they emphasize at Bercy.

Candidates have four months to submit their applications. They will be analyzed by the CRE by the end of 2026 - beginning of 2027, for "the designation of the winners in February 2027", in accordance with the timetable planned by the government, according to the ministry.