How and Why

Creating the infrastructure for floating wind farms in the Mediterranean

Why

• Floating wind power will help Europe transition to green energy
• The two wind farms will produce enough energy for 400 000 people, but they require significant infrastructure to support their operation
• The Occitania region wants to revive its economy and supplement traditional industries like agriculture, tourism and aerospace

How

• Expand Port-la-Nouvelle to create the space needed to assemble and maintain the massive wind turbines, which will later be lifted onto floaters and transported out to sea
• Deepen the port’s basin and build additional terminals that will be used to store wind turbine equipment arriving from other parts of Europe
• Create a renewable energy hub based on clean energy generated by the wind turbines and develop hydrogen-related activities in the region

Sectors & Countries

The European Investment Bank is lending the Occitania region €150 million to remake ports in Sète and Port-la-Nouvelle, France, creating the infrastructure needed to run new floating wind farms in the Mediterranean. The first phase of construction at Port-la-Nouvelle is expected to be completed in 2023.

The EIB is also supporting the two new pilot floating wind farms  – one run by Les Éoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion and another by EolMed.  The Bank signed an €85 million loan with Eolmed in April and a €75 million loan with Les Éoliennes Flottantes in May. Both loans are backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

It requires an industrial process and infrastructure that are very different from what we usually do.

Didier Cordorniou

director of maritime affairs for the Occitania region

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How to create a renewable energy hub

Port-la-Nouvelle’s transition is part of an ambitious renewable energy strategy laid out by the Occitania region. The region is hoping to benefit from the development of two floating offshore wind farms planned in the Mediterranean, which are expected to produce enough energy for 400 000 people.

Occitania has one of the highest unemployment rates in France. It sees renewable energy as an opportunity to re-energise its traditional economy of agriculture, tourism and, further inland, aerospace.

The plans call for Port-la-Nouvelle to be transformed into a Mediterranean hub for the construction, logistics and support of offshore floating wind farms. The hub will also eventually produce green hydrogen from the clean energy generated by the wind farms.

The region has a strong ambition to make Port-la-Nouvelle the port of the energy transition, not just for France, but for the Mediterranean in general.

Julien Ciglar

Project manager for marine renewable energies at Occitania’s regional economic development agency

The new infrastructure supports the efforts to develop greener port activities and to decarbonise energy production. It's an additional step towards reaching our goal for carbon neutrality at the European level.

Shirley Moussavou

Loan officer, European Investment Bank

How do you get a massive turbine out to sea

Wind turbines are hulking steel beasts that weigh hundreds of tonnes. On land, they tower over landscapes. But imagine trying to assemble one in a traditional seaport, hauling the 100-metre-long turbine and 90-metre blades onto a floating platform – and then gently tugging the whole thing out to a wind farm in the middle of the sea.

Port-la-Nouvelle’s location gives it a particular edge. The port is situated just less than 20 kilometres from the wind parks run by Les Éoliennes Flottantes and EolMed. The relatively short distance between the port and the wind farms reduces the risks involved in transporting the huge structures at sea.

Manoeuvring wind turbines, however, requires a major revamp of port infrastructure. Port-la-Nouvelle’s renovation includes:

• Constructing a 250-metre platform strong enough to support the heavy cranes needed to assemble the floater and position the wind turbines.
• Extending the dykes surrounding the port, which will expand the basin and deepen it. The extra space in the basin will be used to stack the floaters on which the wind turbines sit.
• Building additional terminals with 300 metres of docks. The terminals will be used to assemble wind turbines and as storage facilities

The region is also focusing on green hydrogen. In 2019, it adopted a €150 million Green Hydrogen Plan, which envisages creating the infrastructure to produce, store and distribute hydrogen, and to use the energy to power local transport, like buses and trains.

A related project, Corridor H2, will develop a network of hydrogen distribution stations in Occitania along the road that runs from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. The EIB is loaning €40 million to the Corridor H2 project.

The region could show other areas of France how to develop these kinds of activities.

José Rino

Senior engineer in the Air, maritime and innovative transport division, European Investment Bank

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