Meridiam, Caisse des Dépôts invest in French floating wind farm

The Caisse des Dépôts and MERIDIAM have signed their investment in the project company "Groix & Belle-Île floating wind turbines", a major milestone for the development of the French wind farm project.

Since 2008, the urban area of Lorient and the Brittany region have been invested in the interest of a floating wind farm site off the islands of Groix and Belle-Île. This momentum became a reality in July 2016 when EOLFI and CGN EE (consortium EOLFI Offshore France) won the call for projects launched by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) to develop a pilot farm of floating wind turbines on this site put forward by the Region.

The project consists of installing 4 high-power wind turbines (6MW each), at a depth of 60 to 70 metres, on floaters designed specifically for ocean sea conditions. This project is also supported as part of the Investment Program of the Future in the context of a call for projects led by ADEME.

The arrival of these French institutional investors is a strong indication of the interest generated by the emergence of the new floating wind energy sector for the future of the energy and industrial landscape in France and Brittany. This partnership will help develop the French energy and naval industry and open the doors to a global market for floating wind power, the prospects of which are considerable. It is complementary to the strong support provided by CGN EE and gives an indication of the international dimension of this sector.

For this transaction, EOLFI Offshore France was advised by Vulcain, a Paris-based merger and acquisition consultant, and EY Société d'Avocats (JC Sabourin and F. Casse) for the legal transactional aspects.