EOLE-RES joins the existing consortium established by Iberdrola, French turbine manufacturer Areva and the engineering company Technip, to bid for two areas off the French Coast: Saint-Brieuc (located in the Côte d'Armor County) and Saint-Nazaire (located in the Loire-Atlantique County); the two areas would have a combined capacity of between 900 and 1,250 MW.
EOLE-RES is one of the leading wind energy developers in France and specialises in the development, construction and operation of renewable energy projects. To date it has delivered over 400 MW of onshore wind projects in France and has been developing offshore wind energy projects for over a decade. EOLE-RES's offshore activities will be supported by its sister company RES Offshore, bringing significant additional development, technical and engineering knowledge and expertise to the consortium.
"This partnership combines the valuable experience and unrivaled expertise of the two groups in terms of design and construction of both onshore and offshore wind farms. This consortium is undoubtedly one of the most solid and experienced, with a valuable technical, industrial and financial background that will allow the development of high-quality offshore projects," commented Jean-Marc Armitano, CEO of EOLE-RES.
RES Offshore has a wealth of in-house experience built on participation in UK Rounds 1, 2 and 3, and also in the development of projects in Northern Ireland and France. To date, RES Offshore has successfully applied its skills and experience to help deliver over 350 MW of consented offshore capacity in the UK and is currently supporting over 5,000 MW in development in Europe and the United States.
"We are delighted to be supporting this development partnership. RES Offshore has been working in the industry for over ten years and we have firmly established ourselves as an international leader in the offshore market. We look forward to working with our colleagues in EOLE-RES, to present a submission of the highest quality for this exciting tender opportunity," said Chris Morgan, CEO of RES Offshore.
Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of ScottishPower Renewables and also head of Iberdrola's Glasgow-based Global Offshore Division, said: "EOLE-RES is a very strong addition to the consortium, with a wealth of experience in delivering onshore wind projects in France as well as working on offshore projects.
The French government's tender could see France becoming an offshore wind powerhouse,with the new turbines involved in the tender producing a total of 3,000 MW requiring an investment of some €10 billion. The Government has pledged that France will be running on 23 percent renewable energy by 2020 and will be producing 25 GW from wind turbines, 6 GW of which will come from turbines out at sea.
For additional information:
