In 2022, the French offshore wind industry and the State signed an "offshore wind pact," with the goal of reaching a project allocation rate of 2 GW per year by 2025, and an installed capacity of 18 GW by 2035 and 40 GW by 2050. To meet these ambitious targets, there will need to be improved offshore wind planning, along with a re-evaluation of the project allocation framework to enhance efficiency and save time. As part of this process, the State has been conducting consultations with relevant stakeholders since 2023.

Seabed plots are set to be available in regions off France’s eastern North Sea, north-western Atlantic, south Atlantic, and south-western Mediterranean coastlines, which were identified in a separate consultation held last year.A total of 8.4GW is planned to be allocated with DC connections by the end of 2026.

The consultation seeks feedback on whether the 2GW plots should be assigned to a single project or split into smaller projects with shared connections.The DGEC is also gathering opinions on the locations of the plots, target commissioning dates, project timelines, and rules to prevent one bidder from winning all the tenders.

The development goals for offshore wind include the allocation of at least 15.5 GW of new capacity within 10 years of the adoption of the mapping resulting from the public consultation "The Sea in Debate."

As part of this project, the DGEC is currently considering the launch of a competitive bidding process (referred to as "AO10") for offshore wind projects located across various French maritime regions. These areas were identified in the October 17, 2024 decision, which followed the public debate and focused on updating the strategic sections of the facade documents and mapping priority maritime and land areas for offshore wind energy.
In line with Article 3 of this decision, an initial competitive tendering procedure is planned for launch in the coming months, aiming to award projects in the following areas:
– two wind turbine projects of approximately 2 gigawatts (GW) each on the eastern English Channel coastline
– a floating wind turbine project of approximately 1.2 GW or 2 GW on the North Atlantic – Western Channel coastline
– a floating wind turbine project of approximately 1.2 GW on the South Atlantic coast

– a floating wind turbine project of approximately 2 GW on the Mediterranean coast