Offshore wind turbines: nine European leaders including Macron sign an agreement to accelerate their installation

Jacques Serais, edited by Romain Rouillard / Photo credits: MICHAEL KAPPELER / DPA / DPA PICTURE-ALLIANCE VIA AFP) 19:58 pm, April 24, 2023

The now traditional concert of pots and pans, led by opponents of the pension reform, was not enough to disrupt Emmanuel Macron's trip to Ostend on Monday. Eight other EU heads of state and government gathered in the northwestern Belgian port city for a North Sea summit. And have signed a joint agreement whose ambition is to accelerate the installation of offshore wind turbines.

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In this way, it would then be a question of reaching a production of 300 gigawatts in 2050. This represents the equivalent of 200 EPR-type nuclear reactors. An ambitious goal for which the France intends to play its part. "We will continue, very strongly on our entire maritime border, which is one of the strengths of the France. The 300-gigawatt plan commits to 40 gigawatts by 2024. And so we will continue to develop our projects," Macron said on his arrival in Ostend on Monday.

Greater European sovereignty

This objective contributes to offering greater European sovereignty, according to the French president. "It also allows us together to secure raw materials, a European sector on offshore wind and behind, an ability to have a European market that works better and is more integrated. This means that we will produce our electricity on our soil in a carbon-free way, from materials that are ours."

The Head of State wants the France to have about fifty offshore parks on all our coasts. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go because only one of these structures has so far been inaugurated in Saint-Nazaire in Loire-Atlantique. Three others are under construction in Saint-Brieuc, Fécamp and Courseulles-sur-Mer.