The Pays de la Loire region is hosting FOWT, for the first time in Nantes, from 10 to 12 May 2023. This international floating wind energy event will take place at the Cité des Congrès for two days of talks and B2B meetings, as well as a day of technical visits in the region, all organised by Solutions&co, the regional economic development agency. After Seanergy in 2021, the Regional Council is once again showing its support for a growing sector. This vibrant and differentiating sector is essential to developing the region’s economy and to the rolling out the energy transition in France.
2 offshore developments off the Pays de la Loire coast
With its 80 offshore wind turbines with a unit capacity of 6 Megawatts (MW), the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm is located between 12 and 20km off the France’s Altantic coast, over a total area of 78 km². The production covers the equivalient of 20% of the electricity consumption of the Loire-Atlantique department. The park has been operational since the end of last year.
The Yeu and Noirmoutier Islands wind farm is now entering its construction phase. Initial offshore work will be carried out this summer before the actual start of installation works in the spring of 2024. The construction site of the EMYN farm, which will last 2.5 years, will involve 1 600 direct jobs in France and it will help the growth of France’s offshore wind energy industry. This development will supply nearly 800,000 people with clean energy by 2025.
Pays de la Loire – Key Figures
- 1 832 jobs in Pays de la Loire (1/3 of those in France) achieving 58% of national sales in the sector
- Over 100 businesses operating in marine renewables
- 30ha port space allocated to marine renewables
- 500 R&D projects (regional, national and European), representing over €100 million invested across the region between 2015-2020
- 180 FTE solely dedicated to research in marine renewables
FOWT technical visits to explore the facilities available in Pays de la Loire
Tour of onshore test facilities?(Nantes):
- The new Nantes Science Faculty Hall, a unique measuring station at sea in France, with a panel of equipment unique in France to simulate the degradation of materials at sea and its monitoring and a virtual showroom to discover the biocolmar station (evaluation of biocolonization) in real time.
- The Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, Direction DC2A (Climatology, Aerodynamics and Aeraulics), the main wind engineering laboratory in France and the Soufflerie Climatique Jules Verne. Gustave Eiffel University, with its state-of-the-art equipment: the marine cable fatigue test bench and the geotechnical centrifuge.
- The IRT Jules Verne, involved in several collaborative projects such as ZEBRA and RECIF.
A look at the life-cycle of a demonstrator (Saint-Nazaire):
BW Ideol and Nantes Saint-Nazaire Port are associated with SEM-REV for the presentation of the life-cycle of a demonstrator. The SEM-REV offshore test site is one of the sites of the OPEN-C Foundation dedicated to floating wind and marine renewable energy, which has been hosting FLOATGEN (BW Ideol/Centrale Nantes/Bouygues TP) since 2018 and the WAVEGEM hybrid platform (GEPS Techno) from 2019 to 2021 and soon 2 new prototypes: Sealhyfe, 1st offshore hydrogen production platform developed by LHYFE and a 5 MW wind turbine developed by EOLINK.
