Interview by Rikki Stancich in Paris

The French government is poised to launch the first round of bidding for 3GW (of a planned 6GW) of offshore wind farms, with France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy, expected to outline the main points of the €10 billion offshore wind tender process on Tuesday 25^th.

France has set a goal of producing 23 per cent of its power needs from renewable resources by 2020, of which 6,000 MW will be from offshore wind power. The proposed 600-turbine offshore wind farms are slated to be built on five sites between Saint-Nazaire and Dieppe/Le Tréport.

In anticipation of the government’s call for tenders, EDF Energies Nouvelles last week signed an agreement with power goliath Alstom to jointly bid in the offshore wind tender process. Under the agreement Alstom will be the exclusive supplier of 6MW offshore wind turbines, (to be market-ready from 2013), for the construction of offshore wind farms developed by EDF Energies Nouvelles and its partners.

Wind Energy Update catches up with Alstom’s Senior Vice-President of Alstom Hydro & Wind, Philippe Cochet, to learn more about its agreement with EDF Energies Nouvelles and how the two companies hope to leverage Alstom’s 6MW direct drive turbine technology to their advantage in the forthcoming tender process.

Wind Energy Update:  Alstom and EDF are planning on submitting a joint bid in France's forthcoming offshore wind tender process. What amount of the proposed 6000MW will the Alstom-EDF consortium bid for?

Philippe Cochet: While it is too early to mention the exact figure, I can say that we will be bidding for a significant share.

Wind Energy Update:  Has any indication been given as to when the French government will launch the tender process?

Philippe Cochet: The news broke this morning that Nicolas Sarkozy is announcing the date tomorrow (Tuesday 25th). The call for tenders will likely start in 2-3 weeks from now and will cover at least 3GW.

Wind Energy Update: The agreement includes supplier exclusivity for Alstom's 6MW direct drive turbine. When are we likely to see the 6MW turbine deployed?

Philippe Cochet: The 6MW direct drive turbine is a brand new machine that we have been developing for the last two years. From an engineering perspective it delivers a very interesting technological solution, particularly in the way we have implemented the direct drive.

To date the majority of installed machines are 3-3.6MW gearbox machines. In a drive to reduce offshore installation costs, we designed the direct drive machine specifically for offshore conditions to improve reliability and availability. 

The first prototype will be installed onshore near the coast, toward the end of 2011. By mid-2012, the first offshore prototype will be installed and we aim to have the first offshore wind farm using the 6MW turbines installed in 2013.

Wind Energy Update: Focusing briefly on the 6MW direct drive turbine design, what installation challenges does a turbine of this size present and how many installation vessels are capable of handling the larger turbine components?

Philippe Cochet: We have developed a brand new machine for the offshore environment and as such, we have paid particular attention to the installation aspect.

Alstom’s 6MW turbine is light compared to the existing 6MW turbines out there (of which there is only one other: REpower’s). Ours is less heavy, which will facilitate installation.

There are already several existing vessels that could install these machines. Large-scale deployment of the 6MW turbines will take place around 2014, by which time new generation vessels will be available for installation.

Wind Energy Update:  What foundations is the turbine best suited to? Is Alstom considering coupling the 6MW turbine with Technip's latest floating foundation?

Philippe Cochet: The turbines have been designed for use with fixed, not floating, foundations, so no, we will not be looking to use Technip’s floating foundation.

There are two types of foundations that it is suited to: jackets and gravity-base.

Wind Energy Update: Alstom aims to leverage the offshore wind build out to develop a local supply chain for its turbine components. How developed is France's supply chain at present and does if face the same bottlenecks as the UK?

Philippe Cochet: France has a strong capability to develop its supply chain quickly - we have a lot of good engineers and good harbour infrastructure. The industry will be based near a large harbour - we haven’t yet announced where we’ll be locating, but we have a number of plans.

To respond to this article, please write to the editor: Rikki Stancich