Following a comprehensive process of Expressions
of Interest and the resulting recommendation by the French Environment
and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), the French Prime Minister has now
selected DCNS (OpenHydro parent company) and EDF Energies Nouvelles for
the development of pilot tidal turbine arrays off the French coast of Normandy.
The NORMANDIE HYDRO project will see the installation of an array of seven
tidal turbines in the Raz Blanchard. The turbines, which are based on the
latest technology developed by OpenHydro, will have a unit power output
of 2 MW and will be connected to the power grid in 2018.
Originally announced in Cherbourg in September
2013 by the French President, François Hollande, the goal of this project
(launched under the “Investing for the Future” program) is to support
the installation of pre-commercial farms to foster the consolidation of
the tidal turbine sector in France.
The support provided by the “Investing for
the Future” program to the NORMANDIE HYDRO project is a recognition of
the successful cooperation initiated in 2009 between DCNS and EDF Energies
Nouvelles for the development of tidal turbine projects. Both groups have
been working on site selection and design studies for several years now,
in close consultation with the authorities and the various local stakeholders
(fishermen, associations, economic actors, local authorities, State services)
with the aim of capitalizing on natural resources and human activities.
Today, thanks to the support of the “Investing
for the Future” program, the two partners will install an array of seven
OpenHydro tidal turbines off the coast of Cherbourg in the Raz Blanchard,
with a total installed power of 14 MW, allowing the supply of electricity
to some 13,000 local residents.
This project, which was supported by the Region
of Basse-Normandie, confirms the local desire to develop an industrial
tidal turbine sector in Cherbourg.
Commenting on this announcement, Thierry Kalanquin,
Chairman of OpenHydro and Director of the Marine Energy and Infrastructure
Division of DCNS, declared: “The selection of this project by ADEME
gives a further push to the development of a French tidal energy industry,
for which Cherbourg will be the driver. The array that we will deploy in
the Raz Blanchard, along with EDF Energies Nouvelles, will allow us to
meet market schedules and respond to future calls for tender for future
commercial tidal turbine arrays, both in France and around the world”.
For
Antoine Cahuzac, managing director of EDF Energies Nouvelles:“The selection
of the NORMANDIE HYDRO project is a recognition of the high-quality work
of the EDF Energies Nouvelles and DCNS teams on this innovative technology.
Marine energies are promising sectors for the future and EDF Energies Nouvelles,
and more generally the EDF group, has the aim of contributing to their
industrial competitiveness.”
The next steps for the NORMANDIE HYDRO
project
The DCNS and EDF Energies Nouvelles teams
are set to start the pre-commercial phase and achieve key project milestones
around the following timeframes:
·
In 2015, to
continue with the consultation process, finalize project development and
obtain the necessary administrative authorizations.
·
In 2018, make
the final connection of the tidal turbine array to the power grid.
The NORMANDIE HYDRO project will contribute
to building up the skills of French tidal turbine stakeholders. In the
medium term, with the deployment of future commercial arrays in France
and Europe, it will give the region of Basse-Normandie the opportunity
to develop and host an assembly and maintenance hub, leading to the creation
of several hundred jobs.
The NORMANDIE HYDRO project is set to build
on the deployment of the pilot Paimpol-Bréhat tidal array in northern
Brittany, which for OpenHydro and EDF, will comprise the installation of
two tidal turbines off the coast of Paimpol in 2015, thus proving the technology
before the start of the NORMANDIE HYDRO pre-commercial project.
Through the NORMANDIE HYDRO project, DCNS
and EDF Energies Nouvelles have reached a new milestone in the development
of tidal energy. The installation at sea of seven turbines, for a duration
of 20 years, will allow the respective partners to demonstrate the feasibility
of the dedicated installation systems, methods and the associated industrial
organization.