Project financing has been put in place for a 30-megawatt floating offshore wind farm about 16 kilometres off the French Mediterranean coast, in the Gulf of Lion.

Les Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe de Lion (EFGL) is viewed as an important project for the future of floating offshore wind power in Europe.

KfW IPEX-Bank, along with Mizuho Bank, Crédit Agricole CIB, Banco Santander and the European Investment Bank (EIB), is financing the project.  Also participating is the Danish export credit agency EKF.

The project sponsors are Ocean Winds, the international offshore wind energy company created by EDP Renewables and Engie, and Banque des Territoires (Groupe Caisse des Dépôts).

"We see enormous potential in floating offshore wind farms," says Velibor Marjanovic, a member of KfW IPEX-Bank’s management board. "Fixed offshore wind farms can only be operated economically up to a certain sea depth. Floating wind farms will open up deeper waters. This gives us the opportunity to expand offshore wind power much more and drive the decarbonization of energy generation faster worldwide."

For the EFGL project, three Vestas wind turbines (type V164-10MW) will be installed on semi-submersible platforms. The water is 75 metres deep.

The wind farm is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2023.