The Gulf of Morbihan tidal project contested before the Council of State

With the Fishermen of the Gulf of Morbihan, new associations are demanding the cancellation of the decree of January 2, 2023 by which the prefect of Morbihan granted the Morbihan hydro energy company (MHE) authorization to install two experimental tidal turbines between the Pointe de Monteno and Ile Longue. Fishermen, hikers and boaters particularly appreciate this preserved and intact landscape which is one of the most beautiful in the Gulf of Morbihan. This is where MHE obtained authorization to install two 250 kW tidal turbines, for an amount of 8.3 million euros.

“With three to four meters of current per second, the entrance to the gulf presents particularly interesting potential,” explains the Sabella company which works with MHE. She hoped the work would start by the end of 2022. But the appeals of associations opposed to the project have multiplied since March 2023. In difficulties, the company, a subsidiary of Sabella and the mixed economy company 56 energies, had been placed in receivership on November 17, 2023 but was authorized, in July 2024, by the Quimper commercial court, to continue its activities until October 4, 2024.

“The first phase of a larger project”

The Council of State, arbiter of first and last resort for cases concerning marine renewable energies, examined these disputes on Monday. Associations

criticize in particular the “insufficiency of the impact study which should have given rise to an overall evaluation because it concerns a broader project”. They thus assert that this project, which is only “the first phase of a larger project”, would have “notable impacts on the environment”, particularly marine algae in the nearby Natura 2000 areas, but also , due to the location of the tidal turbines in the passage between Île Longue and the tip of Monteno on three protected species. The associations maintain that risks have been identified around the great cormorant which could be the victim of collision, during its fishing activities, as well as around Atlantic salmon and sea lamprey, due to noise pollution during the work phase. The applicants note, finally, that the project would be incompatible with the Sustainable Development and Management Plan (PAGD), which defines the territory’s priorities in terms of water policy and aquatic environments.

The public rapporteur concludes that the appeals should be rejected

The public rapporteur of the Council of State affirmed and repeated that “the project in question did not constitute the first phase of a larger project”. It is, he insisted, “an experimental project which is intended to give way to a lasting project whose scale is to be defined. Everything is still hypothetical.” The impact assessment was, in fact, carried out taking into account this temporary nature. The Parisian magistrate also noted that “for the great cormorant, the risk is negligible” and that, for the Atlantic salmon and the sea lamprey, “the noise pollution during the work phase will be reduced from an average level to a low level” . He finally recalled, before concluding that the appeals should be rejected, that “the project responded by its nature to an imperative reason of major interest”. The Council of State will make its decision in the coming weeks.