The French government has started a public debate on plans for a 250MW commercial floating wind array in the Atlantic Ocean off southern Brittany that is slated to last until the end of November.

The government foresees to award the volume in a tender next year, with an extension to 500MW already planned to be allocated in 2024.

"We're going to to bring together the first commercial floating offshore wind farm project in Europe. The aim is to reconcile the development of renewable marine energy with the current uses of the sea,” said Barbara Pompili, the country’s new minister of ecological transition.

“For several years, consultations have been carried out in the territory and have helped to identify suitable areas and less constraints.”

Details of the public debate can be found on a new government website in French (link here).

Paris in its updated multi-year energy plan (PPE) presented in April had surprised the sector with relatively high targets for floating wind, but a low-end ambition for bottom-fixed offshore wind.

Under the targets of the PPE, the country’s overall offshore wind capacity is slated to rise to between 5.2GW and 6.2GW by 2028.

As part of the proposal, 750MW of floating wind is scheduled to be auctioned off by the end of 2022 – 250MW next year in Brittany and another two zones of 250MW in the Mediterranean.