France is set to launch a long-awaited tender for 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, most on the country's west coast, as the country targets 15 GW of offshore wind by 2035, up from today's 2 GW.
The tender is set to open on Monday and companies will have four months to submit their offers, with winners to be selected by February 2027, according to the tender documents released by France's Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday.
Successful developers will receive a revenue support contract that calls on them to sell electricity into the wholesale power market, while receiving top-up payments from the government when market prices fall below their awarded reference price.
Conversely, during periods when market prices exceed certain thresholds, a portion of those revenues may be returned.
Bidders will be assessed based on a range of industrial, environmental and social criteria beyond their bid, including the carbon footprint of the project, commitments to local content and domestic supply chains and participation by small and medium-sized enterprises.