France's offshore Wind sector is battered by government crises
Offshore wind developers, and suppliers of equipment are bracing themselves for a slowdown. A political crisis in France has caused changes to France's energy framework as well as government tenders to be stalled. Data released on Friday showed that business activity in France declined faster than anticipated in October. Emmanuel Macron's six successive prime ministers have been replaced by a divided legislature that has struggled to reach a budget-cutting agreement in the past two years. The PPE3, a bill that details the future energy requirements from 2026, has been long delayed.
The second-largest economy in Europe generates the majority of its electricity from nuclear power. Only 3 gigawatts of offshore wind energy are installed or under development. This is far behind Britain, which has 16 GW of power in operation. The government, however, has stated that it intends to quadruple capacity through new tenders which are now over a year behind schedule. After President Donald Trump cancelled projects and halted new developments, the U.S. industry has also been slowed.
The complex nature of the site and the uncertainty surrounding government support were the main reasons why no bidders submitted a tender last month for a 1GW wind farm on France's West Coast.
In the past, bidders who won government contracts received state assistance. This is not true anymore. The government has yet to launch two more tenders totaling 12 GW, which it promised would be open for bids at the end 2024. They will then be awarded in the fall of 2026.
The Economy Ministry, which deals with energy, has not responded to a comment request.
Jules Nyssen is the President of France’s Renewable Energy Syndicate (an industry lobby group), and he said that several companies have already reduced their headcount.
A recruiter in the renewables sector told us that he knew of four wind farm developers who were cutting staff. RWE was part of TotalEnergies' consortium that won a tender for a 1.5GW offshore wind farm last month. However, it immediately announced its intention to leave.
A spokesperson for RWE said the company was looking to withdraw from the project due to the fact that its value has been reduced compared to international projects.
Siemens Energy, GE Vernova, and Spain's Haizea Wind Group which operate turbine plants throughout France did not answer a question about their plans for France.
(source: Reuters)
