Por the first time on French territory, a white mast more than 100 meters high rose on Thursday, April 7, above the sea off Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique). A wind turbine of 6 megawatts of power, which will be gradually joined by 80 others planted about fifteen kilometers opposite the ports of Croisic and Pouliguen. The first French offshore wind farm is finally sticking its head out of the water. Ultimately, the installation will supply the electricity needs of 700,000 inhabitants. A source of pride for the EDF engineers, who have been working on the project for ten years, and for the entire wind power profession.
Tuesday, April 12, the union which represents them explained that the State would recover, or save, this year, nearly 14 billion euros thanks to wind energy. The surge in electricity tariffs leads operators to pay the overpayment in relation to the cost price of the installation.
This good news does not convince everyone. So much so that this subject has become, in a few years, a solid ideological marker between the right (against) and the left (for). In its political programme, Marine Le Pen’s proposal 12 promises to“stop wind projects and [de] gradually dismantle existing parks”. Facing it, Emmanuel Macron intends to create 50 new wind farms at sea, like that of Saint-Nazaire, but he does not talk about land.
Very competitive costs
To do without wind power, the National Rally plans to build around twenty EPR reactors by 2036, including ten in 2031. But this greatly exceeds the technical capacities of EDF, which would already be happy if it managed to release a single new copy in 2037.
Of course, wind turbines consume a lot of concrete and affect the landscape, but they are much simpler to build and install, and produce today at very competitive costs. The last marine call for tenders, in Dunkirk (North), was won by EDF at a price of 45 euros per megawatt hour, against a market price for electricity which reached 230 euros in the first quarter.
As the expert Nicolas Goldberg reminds us in a very complete note for Terra Nova, there is no chance of meeting the climate objectives, directly or indirectly, without the forced development of renewable energies, in addition to nuclear energy. This is the message sent by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Electricity Transmission Network in their 2050 scenarios. A reality that will eventually prevail. But time is running out.