RWE and BOURBON partner to jointly bid for French Mediterranean floating offshore wind project

RWE Renewables France and Bourbon Subsea Services announced the signing of a partnership agreement to jointly bid for the Mediterranean floating offshore wind auction. The partners have applied to be selected as eligible bidders for the A06 tender – the respective announcement by the French government is expected during the coming weeks. Under A06, two sites for floating offshore wind will be developed, each with a planned installed capacity of about 250 megawatts (MW), with potential extensions leading to a total capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW).

Pierre Peysson, Director Offshore France at RWE Renewables France: “Our partnership with Bourbon Subsea Services, a market leader in the installation of floating offshore wind farms, supports RWE’s ambition to grow our floating offshore wind portfolio in the French Mediterranean. Combining our strengths and expertise, we look forward to working with BOURBON to advance the floating offshore wind industry, hand in hand with the communities we are both actively engaged with.”

“With our unique track record in installing floating wind turbine prototypes and pilot farms, our ambition is to participate very actively in the development of the French industrial sector. By signing this partnership with RWE, we are eager to better understand from the inside the needs of our customers and the industrial challenges necessary for the large-scale deployment of floating wind turbines,” says Patrick Belenfant, CEO of Bourbon Subsea Services.

Bourbon Subsea Services and RWE will bring complementary capabilities and expertise to this partnership whilst securing continuity in employment of local industry and resources.

RWE is a global leader in renewables, with an over 20 years’ track record in developing, building and operating offshore wind farms worldwide. The company is determined to apply all its experience in France to contribute to developing an industry growing both local and national supply chain, including the direct and indirect creation of highly-skilled jobs. Its subsidiary, RWE Renewables France, has qualified to participate in the upcoming offshore wind tenders La Manche (A04) and Brittany South (A05). RWE currently operates 18 offshore wind farms in five countries with a total capacity of around 3 GW (RWE pro-rata share), and is developing and constructing some of the world’s most advanced offshore wind farms. Currently, RWE is constructing the 342-megawatt project Kaskasi off the German island Heligoland and its 1,4 gigawatt project Sofia, one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. More than 10 gigawatts of secured capacity are also under development.

Floating offshore opens up the possibility of deploying offshore wind projects in regions with deeper waters like those in France, including in the Mediterranean sea. This contributes to capturing the full potential of renewable power generation. Together with partners, RWE is forging ahead with three high-profile floating offshore wind demonstration projects in Norway  (in operation), Spain (in construction) and the US (in development), each based on different concepts. Furthermore, RWE has qualified to participate in the offshore auction A04 “La Manche” together with Total Energies as a partner for a site off the coast of Normandy and in A05, for the French first commercial floating offshore wind project, off the coast of South Brittany.

Bourbon Subsea Services is a subsidiary of BOURBON, a French leader in maritime services.

Since 2011, BOURBON has installed most of the semi-submersible Floating Wind Turbines in Europe. Recently, BOURBON has consolidated its leadership on the market by signing last May a three-floaters pilot farm EPCI contract in the Mediterranean sea, and late 2021, with the installation and start-up of the TetraSpar Demonstrator in Norway in close collaboration with RWE –a partner in this project. In addition, the partnership will also benefit from BOURBON’s large expertise of the local area. Its teams, based in Marseille, will bring their technical know-how through Front End Engineering studies (FEED) and supported by a solid network of local partners, which has been built up over more than 10 years in the French Provence-Alpes-Côtes-d’Azur and Occitanie regions.

Furthermore, BOURBON will continue together with its clients and partners to build its floating wind projects portfolio worldwide, in order to contribute to the growth of the renewable energy industry.