Offshore wind farm expands in the Mediterranean

Unlike those whose mast is planted in the seabed, and which represent the majority of offshore wind turbines in France, floating wind turbines can be installed in deeper, windier areas and further from the coast.

Currently being assembled in Port-la-Nouvelle (Aude), the first three pilot wind turbines, positioned before the summer 16 km from the seaside resort of Barcarès, near Perpignan, will reach their maximum production at the end of 2025.

They will also make it possible to assess the impact on the environment before the installation of dozens, or even hundreds, of much more powerful floating wind turbines, while environmentalists denounce insufficient consideration of the risks to the seabed, fish and birds.

Marc Hirt, CEO of Ocean Winds, the Engie subsidiary in charge of this pilot farm, spoke on Monday in Port-la-Nouvelle, in the Aude region, where these three wind turbines are being assembled, of a probable "positive" effect of the new installation, which could become an "artificial reef" favorable to marine life.

He said he was "more cautious for the moment" about the effects on birds that could be injured or killed by wind turbine blades.

Audible warning devices

The installation of loudspeakers emitting raptor sounds to scare birds is being tested, but it is still "very experimental," Mr. Hirt told reporters.

The Prefect of Occitanie, Pierre-André Durand, noted that there will be feedback "five years before the establishment of the retail parks", which will allow us to benefit from new knowledge.

For Serge Briez, whose association Les Peuples de la mer has been observing and cataloguing for four years the more than 120 animal species likely to be affected by wind turbines (dolphins, tuna, flamingos, northern gannets, etc.), this period is insufficient.

"Five years ahead, the project engineering is already underway," he told AFP, "but it's too late for the results of the experiments to have a real influence on the design of future commercial wind turbines."

On the other hand, the "reef effect" will develop coastal species that are not necessarily necessary in that location and the sounds of birds of prey "have already been tried and it doesn't work," he adds, recalling that in April, the courts ordered the shutdown of two onshore wind farms responsible for the death of protected birds in Hérault, a first in France.

Bruno Ladsous, of the TNE collective, which claims to bring together several dozen environmental associations, emphasizes that he is "not against floating wind turbines" under certain conditions: "significant distance from the coast" and "respect for migratory corridors" of birds, "the seabed," and marine wildlife. "But these conditions have never been respected," he adds immediately.

Regular winds

Several figures present in Port-la-Nouvelle on Monday, including the president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga, and the deputy general manager of Engie, Claire Waysand, recalled the remarkable regularity of Mediterranean sea winds, a point favorable to the deployment of wind power in this area.

In addition to the first pilot farm, off the coast of Barcarès (Pyrénées-Orientales), another of three wind turbines is to be deployed in the autumn off Port-la-Nouvelle, near Narbonne, in the Aude, adding to the one in the Gulf of Fos (Bouches-du-Rhône, around fifty km from Marseille) which is already in service.

Two commercial parks located further from the coast (between 25 and 30 km, compared to 16 or 18 km for the pilot farms) are already planned for commissioning from 2031 off the coast of Occitanie, for a total production of 750 MW, equivalent to the consumption of one million inhabitants.

However, the development of "fixed" offshore wind power, the technology of which is better understood, has been faster than that of floating wind power.

Thus, three commercial "fixed" offshore wind farms are already in operation in France, in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique), Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) and Fécamp (Seine-Maritime).