TotalEnergies and EDF could become partners for a wind project in the English Channel

French oil giant TotalEnergies, which last week won the tender for the country's largest offshore wind farm in the English Channel, could ultimately join forces with EDF on this project, it indicated a few days ago, confirming a report from Les Echos.

TotalEnergies won the tender for the Centre Manche 2 wind farm last week against EDF, but its partner in the winning consortium, RWE, announced its intention to throw in the towel. The German group, which was a candidate when the tender was launched in 2022, has since decided to reduce its investments in renewables.

EDF Renewables, for its part, won the tender for the Centre Manche 1 wind farm in 2023, which is to be adjacent to TotalEnergies' wind farm. However, its financial terms are less favorable, with an electricity purchase price set at €44,9 per megawatt hour (MWh) compared to €66 for TotalEnergies' wind farm.

"For TotalEnergies, EDF is a natural partner" in the event of RWE's departure, a spokesperson for the oil and gas giant told AFP. The group has a history of managing its major energy production infrastructure, whether renewable or oil and gas, through partnerships.

Contacted by AFP, EDF Renewables did not comment.

An observer of the case argues that the public company "has every interest" in entering the second park "to improve its profitability" while its neighboring project is struggling.

According to Les Echos, which cites a source close to the matter, abandoning the Centre Manche 1 project "is not envisaged, but under current conditions, making a final investment decision is not possible."

Centre Manche 1 is expected to have a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW), equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 800.000 homes, while Centre Manche 2, with 1,5 GW, will supply green electricity to more than a million homes.

The two parks are scheduled to be commissioned in 2032.