EOLFI strengthened his partnership with the Brittany Region in floating offshore wind power

On Tuesday July 11 2017, EOLFI, developer of the floating wind turbines pilot farm project in Groix and -Île, and the Brittany Regional Council, announced they would strengthen their partnership in the of MRE (Marine Renewable Energies). Loïg Chesnais-Girard, president of the Region, and Nicolas Paul-Dauphin, EOLFI CEO, stated their joint intention to deepen and structure the necessary conditions to the success of the future developments in the Brittany floating wind energy department. This success will namely rely on the outcomes of the implementation of Groix and Belle-Île’s pilot project. In this occasion, EOLFI inaugurates its new facility in Lorient in the presence of Norbert Métairie, Lorient agglomeration president.

Since 2008, Lorient agglomeration and Brittany region capitalized on the floating wind turbines industry, inparticular on the pilot project off the Groix and Belle-Île islands, to initiate an industrial and commercialdevelopment in this encouraging sector. This impetus was initiated with Naval Energies (previous DCNSEnergies) and General Electric. It was achieved in July 2016, when EOLFI – the French leading SME in this sector– and CGN EE won a supply bid launched by ADEME (French Agency for Environment and EnergyManagement), for the development of a floating wind turbines pilot farm. This project was financed byregional funds for innovations. It was also endorsed by the Caisse des Dépôts and Meridiam (a Frenchinvestment fund dedicated to infrastructures).
EOLFI’s team will be in charge of projects development on the Atlantic coast.

Recognizing a need for leadership in this rising market, the Brittany regional Council and EOLFI asserted todaytheir willingness to work together. Both stakeholders aim at anticipating the rise of the sector, mostlycharacterized by the commercial farms development. This strong partnership, based on a sharing ofexperience and on a common work on the pilot project, will help the best conditions to establish floating windturbines farms of great capacities in the region, as part of the upcoming national planning. In addition, whilethis alliance will help fostering reflections on the optimization of regional industrial investments, it will alsoallow for a better organization of the future commercial projects on the French Atlantic side and abroad.

To support this approach, the Brittany Region will use the investment fund for MRE which is currently being set up and which will help companies that will contribute to these studies.