Around fifty sites in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the English Channel and the North Sea. Emmanuel Macron opened, this Tuesday, November 28, a public debate to determine the sites where the new offshore wind farms will be located, which could reach a total of 40 to 50 gigawatts by 2050. These should enable wind power in sea to become the second national energy source, behind nuclear power. “In 2025, we will already launch ten gigawatts, that is to say around ten parks which will come into force in 2030-2035,” specified the head of state.
A giant step, while France currently has only 8 gigawatts of offshore parks installed or planned. Wind power still weighs little in the French energy balance, barely 1.5% in 2022, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Energy Transition.
For comparison, nuclear power reaches 36.6% while oil still weighs 30.3%. The total renewable energies, up slightly since 2021, painfully reached 13.9%, behind natural gas, which accounts for 15.5% of the national inventory, taking into account all production flows, transformation, transport and energy consumption in the country.