Ocean Energy Europe (OEE), and Atlantis Resources, have welcomed the French government’s plans to launch a tender for tidal energy projects later this year.
Ségolène Royal, French Minister for Energy, announced on March 22, 2017, that the French government will launch a new round of commercial tenders for tidal energy.
Two deployment zones are being identified by regional authorities in Brittany and Normandy, which will be subject to a competitive tender managed by the French government. The zones will accommodate projects of 50-100MW.
Welcoming the announcement, Rémi Gruet , CEO of the European industry association for ocean energy, OEE, said:
“This is a positive development for the European tidal power sector. Over the past months, tidal technologies have taken-off and developers now need areas where they can demonstrate arrays and full-scale farms.
“France has a world-leading tidal energy supply chain, these new tenders could leverage the experience recently gained in other parts of Europe to push tidal energy to commercialization. These tenders are an important step to mainstreaming tidal energy in Europe.”
One of the leading tidal energy players, Atlantis Resources, has also hailed the news of the upcoming tidal tenders in France.
As reported earlier, Atlantis has last week signed a cooperation agreement with the French specialist marine engineering company Innosea, marking its official entry into the French tidal market.
Tim Cornelius, CEO of Atlantis Resources, has on social media praised the “French forward planning and thinking,” deeming the French government’s move as a way to “build a marine renewable energy industry.”
Atlantis has previously expressed its immediate aspirations to develop the first tidal array sites in French tidal races such as the Raz Blanchard site in Normandy.
This is how to build a marine renewable energy industry – what an amazing story for France! #tidalpower #floatingoffshorewind pic.twitter.com/hcRkWHB4VM
— Atlantis Resources (@atlantisresplc) March 22, 2017