The construction of the wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) continues to make waves.

Wind up against the installation of the 62 wind turbines, the fishermen are of course in the front line and have been demanding from the start the outright abandonment of the project.

Last fall, they seized the National Financial Prosecutor's Office for "concealment of favoritism" in the award of the public contract to Ailes Marines, a subsidiary of the Spanish group Iberdrola.

A preliminary investigation, still in progress, had immediately been opened for "concealment of an offense of violation of equality in the markets".

At the end of August, a new preliminary investigation was carried out by the Brest public prosecutor's office, but this time for a suspicion of pollution on the site.

After all these twists and turns, it is this time a partnership agreement that the Brittany region is preparing to sign with Iberdrola that raises questions.

According to

Le Télégramme

, the Spanish group will indeed create a territorial development fund to finance projects in Brittany to the tune of around ten million euros.

These projects will be very diverse and in fields as varied as fishing, culture, tourism or the environment, with little relation therefore to the operation of the wind farm, which should come into service at the end of 2023.

"Transparency and not the purchase of elected officials"

Within the opposition to the regional council, this partnership, which must be signed soon, questions.

“Somewhere, we buy silence”, underlines Isabelle Le Callennec (LR) in the columns of the daily newspaper.

Asked about this partnership on Wednesday, Loïg-Chesnais Girard, president of the Brittany region, spoke of a "non-subject".

According to him, the creation of this territorial development fund was part of the specifications of the call for tenders launched in 2011 by the government for offshore wind power.

It was thus stipulated that the companies selected had to commit to financing projects in the territory where they were going to set up.


Iberdrola having won the public contract for the wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, there is therefore nothing abnormal about the Spanish group financing projects in Brittany.

“But we don't want Iberdrola to walk around the region with a checkbook and water the territories, underlines Loïg Chesnais-Girard.

This is why we are going to sign a partnership agreement with a committee of elected officials who will say where the money should go.

“It is called transparency and certainly not the purchase of elected officials or political scheming”, assures the president of the region, visibly annoyed by the pikes launched by his opposition.

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  • Wind turbine

  • Controversy

  • Saint Brieuc

  • Brittany

  • Company