• The Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm is the first offshore wind farm in France.

  • Some 55 wind turbines out of the 80 announced have already been installed, 12 km from the coast.

  • Residents and tourists are surprised, often negatively, by the new skyline that is unfolding.

It is the very first offshore wind farm in France.

Scheduled to be officially commissioned next December, several years late, the offshore wind farm known as Saint-Nazaire is already a reality off the Loire-Atlantique.

Since the beginning of the installation operations in the spring, 55 wind turbines, out of the 80 expected in the long term, have been installed.

And they don't go unnoticed.

This new skyline, visible in good weather from Noirmoutier (Vendée) to Belle-Ile-en-mer (Morbihan), has even become over the summer one of the main topics of discussion for residents and summer visitors.

"That's weird!

I had been warned before coming but I didn't think we would see them so much, ”says Lucile, who comes every year on vacation to the family apartment in Pouliguen.

“It is true that it is still quite disturbing.

Especially since they are not all there yet”, comments Nicolas, another holidaymaker, who says he is all the same “favorable to the project, essential for the planet”.

“Sad to see the distorted horizon”

The visual surprise is widely shared, especially in Batz-sur-mer and Le Croisic, the two towns closest to the wind turbines, yet located 12 km away.

“We were assured that it would not change much in the landscape.

There were rather reassuring synthetic images.

And here is the result!

It's a horror, there are no other words,” fulminates Philippe, retired and owner of a residence facing the sea in Batz, not far from the salt marshes.

“Sometimes, when it's foggy, you don't see them at all!

But when it's sunny, it's something else…”, sighs Jean-Marie, also a local resident.

“There are a lot more negative opinions than positive ones from my customers, assesses a restaurateur from Valentin beach, whose terrace overlooks the wind turbines.

It is true that it spoils the view a little.

I imagine we'll get used to it.

»

It must be said that these machines converting the force of the wind into electricity are much higher than on land.

Counting the base, the mast and the blades, they culminate at 180 m.

The mayor of Batz-sur-mer knew the dimensions by heart but did not expect such an impact.

"It is clear that those we were presented with a few years ago as tiny pinheads, almost invisible very far offshore, are in fact very, too visible from the coast, reacts Marie-Catherine Lehuédé (SE).

As municipal elected officials since 2020, we are faced with an old political choice, which offers no turning back.

As citizens of Batz, we are sad to see the distorted horizon.

»

Disagreement over financial compensation

At the town hall of Le Croisic, the same disarray prevails.

“The visual impact is still very strong.

Significantly more than expected.

Including at night with permanent lights.

Our wild coast is no longer wild”, regrets Michèle Quellard (DvD), mayor of Le Croisic.

However, the elected representative invites the population to take the measure of the issues.

“Given the climate change, the energy crisis, we have no choice but to defend renewable energies.

The 80 wind turbines alone will represent 20% of the electricity consumption of the Loire-Atlantique, it is still not insignificant.

»

Like her counterpart Marie-Catherine Lehuédé, she is now campaigning for the financial compensation promised by the State to the municipalities affected, and this for a period of 25 years, to be recalculated taking into account the entire seasonal population and not only main residences.

“Our population almost doubles when counting second homes,” insists Michèle Quellard.

Operated by EDF, the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm will produce a total power of 480 MW.

He will not be alone for long since other offshore wind farms are being built in France.

That of Fécamp (Seine-Maritime) must be put into operation at the end of 2023, before those of Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) and Courseulles-sur-Mer (Calvados).

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