Innovation Fund awards €51m to two tidal farms in France’s Raz Blanchard
24.10.2024
French developers HydroQuest and Normandie Hydroliennes have been announced as the winners in the latest Innovation Fund call. 337 applications were received under the Innovation Fund’s 2023 call. In the ‘pilots’ topic, 17 projects have been preselected for a grant, with ocean energy securing 2 projects in France.
HydroQuest, in partnership with Qair, has been awarded for their 17 MW FloWatt tidal farm project. They will install six tidal turbines in Raz-Blanchard in Normandie, France. The FloWatt project – which also received unprecedented financial support from the French Government – should come online in 2026 and will generate enough energy to power 20.000 local homes.
Normandie Hydroliennes has been awarded to install their 12 MW NH1 tidal farm project, also in Normandie’s Raz Blanchard. Composed of four 3 MW turbines – the most powerful tidal turbines to date – it is scheduled for 2028 and will produce 33.9 GWh yearly.
This announcement adds 29 MW to the existing pipeline of publicly supported European ocean energy projects in the next five years, bringing the outlook to 179 MW across 15 projects. This shows once again that funding support is key to unlock farm scale projects and accelerate the industrialisation of ocean energy. Innovative renewable technologies, such as ocean energy, will strengthen Europe’s energy security and competitive edge on the global stage.
Ocean Energy Europe CEO Rémi Gruet said: ‘These 2 awards are another proof that tidal has reached technological maturity and is on its way to commercialisation. These 2 farms will be the largest in the world by the time they hit the water. This is further evidence that the French Government demonstrated great foresight by supporting tidal energy – and that tidal can become the next French industrial success story.”
For full details on the call result announcements, see here: Press corner | European Commission