Cherbourg. 30 million euros to develop floating wind power at the port

Aboutinstalled offshore wind turbinethe trade port of Cherbourg (Manche) is positioned “as a pioneer” since 2015.

But the avant-garde of the port, managed by the regional mixed unionthat of the Ports of Normandy, does not stop there.

“Very promising” infrastructure

Winner of a call for projects from Ademe in 2023 to carry out a study “being finalized” on thedevelopment of port infrastructurePorts of Normandy now know how to prepare to accommodate floating wind power.

If around the NormandieTHE calls for projects for parks dedicated to offshore wind power do not exist – the seabed low are suitable for installed offshore – the operators present in Brittany and close to British islands allow the mixed union to believe in this technology still not widespread.

For the moment, there is only one experimental wind farm commissioned in the Mediterranean. These infrastructures are very promising. They can overcome the distance from the coast and the depth of the seabed.

A new 140 meter long quay

However, the logistics The amount of energy needed to create a floating wind farm is not at all the same as for their ground-based counterparts.

The constructionmuch more complex, requires imagining “a Tour Eiffel on a football fieldfor a wind turbine” and therefore to adapt the port which will be responsible for receiving all of the materials et equipment.

In July 2023the idea had already germinated and the questions related to the resistance of the median port. Could it support the floats of these wind turbines, heavy with several thousand tons ? Should we broaden the scope of quai des Flamands 3 to accommodate larger ships ?

One year later, the study made it possible to demonstrate that the necessary adjustments did not reside on these points, but rather on a extension dock.

Indeed, on the eastern part from the port, the Quai des Flamands is divided into three parts: number 4, 100 meters long, 3, 220 meters long and 1 and 2, 360 meters long. If these dimensionsalready appear large, “we lack linearity”, assures Philippe Deiss.

As a result, a new quay, “quay 0”, would see the light of day at the northern end, “with a length of 140 meters, 14 meters deep, the maximum height of water in the port, and “a bearing capacity of 20 tonnes per m²”, details the general manager of Ports of Normandy. The dike, adjoining the northern part of quay number 3, will also have to be moved.

A file submitted in January 2025

At the end of the study and with the hoped-for support of the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), “we will submit our file in January 2025“, Ports of Normandy could engage works worth 30 million euros .

If the “priority remains on the development of installed wind power”, room for maneuver seems “possible” to accommodate the components of floating wind power on the hundred hectares allocated to MRE on the port of Cherbourg.

What about the Center Manche 2 park?

This projection into the future is an additional means for the port of Cherbourg to keep its place as the leading French port on the Marine renewable energies (EMR).

If the construction of the Center Manche 1 park off the coast of Barfleur must begin athorizon 2030the call for tenders for Centre Manche 2 is still not completed. Will it ever be? “The governmentcan still cancel it if he wishes,” slips Philippe Deiss, as the early legislative elections approach. Ports of Normandy is counting on the prosperity of MREs in Francewith the state support.

But the regional entity is also banking on the stranger.

We have operators interested, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland, in the logistics that we can offer regarding floating wind power in Cherbourg.

A way, therefore, to place your marbles elsewhere.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon -.