The day of the Head of State will be placed under the sign of ecology. Emmanuel Macron indeed inaugurates this Thursday, off Saint-Nazaire, the very first of a series of offshore wind farms, the deployment of which he intends to accelerate in the face of the energy crisis.
“This is the start of the journey, a first step towards the massive development of renewable energies”, promises the Elysée. With a watchword, to strengthen the “energy sovereignty” of France, in the midst of soaring hydrocarbon prices and faced with the risk of shortages linked to the war in Ukraine, and to reduce the country’s big delay in renewables compared to his neighbors.
Full entry into service by the end of the year
The Head of State will travel by boat in the morning to the site of 80 wind turbines, deployed 12 to 20 km from the coasts of Pouliguen and Croisic. The fleet, operated by EDF, will be fully commissioned by the end of the year. It will then display a power of 480 megawatts (MW) capable of supplying 700,000 people.
The President will also visit the Chantiers de l’Atlantique, in Saint-Nazaire, where the wind turbines are assembled before their installation at sea. presented Monday in the Council of Ministers.
The text aims to shorten project completion times by simplifying administrative procedures and limiting the time taken to examine appeals filed by environmentalists, fishermen and local residents. Today, it takes an average of ten years for an offshore site to come into service in France, compared to five in Germany and six in the United Kingdom. For onshore wind, it’s seven years, twice as long as in Spain or Germany, and photovoltaic is hardly better off. In 2021, renewable energies ensured 24% of electricity production in France (hydraulic, wind, solar, bioenergy), nuclear 69%, and fossil fuels 7%.