The consortia led by EDF Énergies Nouvelles and GDF Suez, now head to head in the second round government tender for offshore wind projects, are expanding their professional networks in the Pays de la Loire region. An occasion for small and medium enterprises and the big local firms to exchange views on future market opportunities.
The winner of the second round government tendering process for offshore wind projects will be known later this spring. Each tender is a bid to add 1000MW of production capacity between now and 2023, of which 500MW will be generated by a wind farm located off France’s Atlantic coast (Vendée) between the Île d’Yeu and the Île de Noirmoutier.
The project’s challenges have been the subject of various meet-ups organised in the Pays de la Loire by both competitors: the EDF Énergies Nouvelles/Wpd Offshore consortium in partnership with Alstom on one side, and the GDF Suez consortium on the other, which partners, among others, EDP Renewables, Neoen marine and Areva.
Local meet-ups
Alstom’s local meet-ups
Having already attracted 33 regional businesses to their 23 January event in La-Roche-sur-Yon, EDF Énergies Nouvelles, Wpd Offshore and Alstom are now organising a further event in Nantes on the 27 March, from 1800-2200h. Held in association with the Nantes-Saint-Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Neopolia and the offshore wind section of the Normandy Vigie business network, the event will be an occasion for face-to-face meetings between local and regional suppliers to the sector and a number of the giants of the offshore wind market (Alstom Wind, Alstom Grid, Bouygues, EDF en services, Eiffage Metal, Eiffage TP, Saipem, SDI/DEME and STX).*
The GDF Suez-led consortium also held a morning of exchanges with political and economic players in the Pays de la Loire region, on 10 January in Nantes. GDF Suez and its partners have had talks with 150 local businesses on the manufacture and construction of the foundations and sub-stations for the Île d’Yeu/Noirmoutier wind farm. Again, the Nantes-Saint-Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and in the Vendée, local government there, Neopolia and Vendée Expansion, turned out in support.
Win-win
The purpose of these encounters is two-fold: the tender bidders come to understand the fabric of local industry and identify potential sub-contractors in the region; the latter, now well-informed about the future projects concerned with the establishment and operation of the Île d’Yeu/Noirmoutier farm, reach a better understanding of a potential chief contractor’s needs.
These meetings also enable the emergence of new partnerships between players in the sector and the Pays de la Loire Region, essential collateral for the stability and endurance of the sector locally.
* Contact Vigie Business or Christelle Céleste at the Nantes St-Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a place: (c.celeste@nantes.cci.fr, 02 40 44 61 59). Registration will close at 8:00 pm on 13 March 2014.
Further information: www.edf-energies-nouvelles.com, www.gdfsuez.com
