Floating wind power: preliminary consultation on a wind turbine construction platform in Fos

The preliminary consultation of the Deos project (development of offshore wind power), open to all and specifically to residents of the industrial-port zone (ZIP) of Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône), on the Mediterranean coast, will be held from October 14 to December 23.

The platform, which is due to be delivered at the end of 2028, will allow "the manufacture of concrete or steel floats, the assembly of the wind turbine, up to the anchoring system and maintenance", specified the chairman of the port's board, Hervé Martel, during a press conference.

Building floating wind turbines, he described, "consists of submerging concrete buildings and then placing an Eiffel Tower on top of them," evoking an alliance "of gigantism and high technology."

The Deos project should generate, according to its leaders, up to 2.000 jobs in the operating phase, "as offshore wind farm projects grow", and with "the structuring of the sector and its transition to industrial scale".

Wind power is the second source of renewable electrical energy after hydropower, and the third source of electricity production in France. At the end of September, the government confirmed its target of producing 3 gigawatts (GW) from offshore wind power in France by 18, compared to 2035 GW currently.

Two offshore wind farms are already planned in the Mediterranean, at Fos-sur-Mer itself and at Port-la-Nouvelle in Aude, each expected to produce 250 MW per year.

René Raimondi, Mayor (various left) of Fos-sur-Mer, also present at the press conference on Tuesday, considered that these projects "bring Fos back to a new, greener destiny". The industrialists of the Fos-sur-Mer Zip, the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases in France, have been repeatedly criticized by the State for violations of pollution regulations.

The mayor of Fos also warned about the wind farm project off the coast of his town: "The problem is that it's always in the same place, where we already have a large industrial zone, boats parked." He said he was particularly vigilant about the neighborhood problems that the future floating wind farm could cause, which will have to "take into account practices and populations."

As for the wind turbine construction platform itself, the project's presentation brochure warns: the project will be "potentially emitting atmospheric pollutants" and could generate "an increase in the acoustic and vibration level" on land and at sea, impacting species and natural habitats.