The official document has been signed authorizing the extension of the port of Cherbourg into the main roadstead as part of the marine renewables energy (MRE) project.
This represents a successful conclusion to the efforts made by French state, PNA (Ports of Normandy Authority) and the Cherbourg Urban District Council to get approval for this project in order to further develop MRE.
The project is of direct interest to the Lower Normandy region, where the pilot tidal farm is planned off the coast of Cotentin peninsula.
The land around the harbor has already been designated to building a plant to make blades and towers for the Courseulles-sur-Mer offshore wind farm.
To complement this, PNA has decided to increase the area available in the harbor by 39 hectares in order to provide more land by 2016, to secure the area for the manufacturing of tidal turbines components, while also taking up a part of activity in the manufacturing and logistics aspects of the offshore wind turbine industry.
The 317 hectares of state maritime land has been transferred to a local authority, and with this extension, the land dedicated to MRE amounts to 100 hectares.
The official document about the port extension was signed between Danièle Polvé-Montmasson, Prefect of the Manche Département, Squadron Vice-Admiral Emmanuel Carlier, Maritime Prefect for the English Channel and North Sea, Laurent Beauvais, Chairman of the Ports of Normandy Authority, Michel Roulet, Director of Public Finance for the Manche Département, and Captain Bruno Jeannerod, Commander of the Cherbourg Defense Base.
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Image: PNA