Région Normandie

With its 640 km of straight coastline exposed to strong, regular winds and running alongside the formidably strong current of the Raz Blanchard, Normandy has all the exceptional natural characteristics needed to develop Marine Renewable Energy projects (MRE).

Moreover, Normandy has also assets like adapted and ready to use port infrastructures and real estates, especially in the port of Cherbourg regarding the Raz Blanchard’s tidal energy potential, and a high voltage good grid which allows the transmission of any marine renewable electricity production.

For many years, using the ONEM banner (Normandy Marine Energy Organization) as a territory promotion and a stakeholder’s structuration tool, Normandy Region has been supporting the development of MRE in its territory, aiming to create a whole ecosystem from research to component production factories, trainings, port facilities… Normandy Region succeeded to create an industrial sector dedicated to offshore wind energy. Next goal is to reach the same with tidal energy.

Through its economy development agency (AND), the Normandy Region is involved in the “ITEG” Interreg project (Integrating Tidal energy into the European Grid : https://www.nweurope.eu/projects/project-search/iteg-integrating-tidal-energy-into-the-european-grid/).

More recently, the Region has partnered with SIMEC Atlantis and Efinor within “Normandie Hydroliennes” to boost the development of a tidal sector based on the opportunities offered by the Raz Blanchard. Normandie Hydroliennes is also partner of the “TIGER” Interreg project (https://interregtiger.com/fr/).