Ocean Winds and Banque des Territoires have decided to jointly bid for the 1GW AO7 South Atlantic offshore wind tender in France.

The bottom-fixed offshore wind project will be located around 40km off the coast of Oléron island.

Through the latest tender, the French Government aims to tap into the prospects of its coastal areas and help the country reach its 2050 target of 40GW of installed capacity.

Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie, and Banque des Territoires have already been partners for three offshore wind farms under development.

These are the Dieppe Le Tréport and Îles d’Yeu and Noirmoutier bottom-fixed offshore wind farms, and the Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion floating wind pilot project. Together, these wind farms have a capacity of more than 1GW.

Earlier, the two companies also participated in the AO6 tender and are now extending their alliance for the AO7 tender.

Ocean Winds France country manager Marc Hirt said: “We are delighted to announce the expansion of our partnership with Banque des Territoires for our participation in AO7. Considering our joint journey since 2014, and our common dedication to enhancing local opportunities and coexistence with communities and other sea users, this extension of our partnership seemed like a logical progression.

“Our commitment with the local stakeholders, which is instrumental for our three projects currently under construction, will remain a central pillar as we venture into AO7 – where we will specially focus on the engagement with the fisheries for responsible and sustainable offshore development, as well as with local actors, to support the progress of the industry in France and local employment. Finally, our experience will also be key for developing a project taking fully into account environmental characteristics of the area.”

Banque des Territoires energy and ecological transition director Emmanuel Legrand said: “The deployment of offshore wind capacity needs to keep the pace, and we at Banque des Territoires are committed to contribute to this first project off the South Atlantic French coast, capitalising on our common experience with Ocean Winds on the bottom-fixed Dieppe Le Tréport and Îles d’Yeu et Noirmoutier projects currently under construction.”

In August 2023, RWE and Valorem announced plans to jointly participate in the AO7 tender.