State aid: Commission approves support for six offshore wind farms in France

The European Commission has found support to six large offshore wind farms in French territorial waters to be in line with EU State aid rules. The six sites are located in French territorial waters off the North-Western coast of France. The sites are “Courselles-sur-Mer”, “Fécamp”, “Saint-Nazaire”, “Iles d’Yeu / Noirmoutier”, “Dieppe / Le Tréport” and “Saint-Brieuc”. The selected installations will receive support in the form of feed-in tariffs over a period of 20 years. The construction of the first of the wind farms is to start this year and they should be operational as of 2022. Once finalised, the wind farms will increase France’s renewables generation capacity by about three gigawatts. The Commission assessed the six support measures under EU State aid rules, in particular the Commission’s 2008 Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection.The Commission found that: (a) the support measures will help France boost its share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources to meet its climate targets, in line with the environmental objectives of the EU; (b) the level of aid granted to the six projects is proportionate and does not entail overcompensation of the beneficiaries, in line with the requirements of the Guidelines. On this basis, the Commission has concluded that the measures will encourage the development of renewable energy and will help France meet its climate targets, without unduly distorting competition.