en.Wedoany.com Reported - The French government recently selected five ports to receive nearly €260 million in funding under the "France 2030" investment plan, aimed at upgrading infrastructure related to floating offshore wind. The selected ports include Cherbourg, Brest, Nantes-Saint Nazaire, Port-la-Nouvelle, and Marseille-Fos, with the port projects expected to leverage nearly €1 billion in total investment.

The funding, managed by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), will be used to upgrade port infrastructure to support the manufacturing, assembly, and deployment of floating wind projects, helping France achieve its goal of deploying 6 GW of floating wind capacity by 2040. The French government stated on July 30 that these selected projects aim to create a network of complementary industrial hubs along the Atlantic coast, the English Channel, and the Mediterranean, strengthening the domestic supply chain.

In a press release issued after receiving the funding, Ports de Normandie disclosed that its project to upgrade the Port of Cherbourg has an investment of €30 million, of which €10.5 million comes from ADEME funding, €18.1 million from revenue generated by offshore renewable energy activities, and the remaining €1.4 million provided by the Cotentin Urban Community.

France is accelerating its deployment of floating offshore wind. The recently launched AO10 tender will award slightly more than 10 GW of installed capacity, covering seven floating and four fixed-bottom offshore wind farms. Earlier this month, the European Commission approved a €63 billion plan for France to support offshore wind through Contracts for Difference (CfDs). The plan will last 25 years, covering 11 offshore wind farms in the North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean, with a total installed capacity of up to 11.1 GW, generating 47.8 TWh of electricity annually, accounting for approximately 10.6% of France's annual electricity consumption.