France is set to ask for proposals to develop offshore wind farms, boosting the country's renewable energy output, a government official told Reuters on Monday.
Junior ecology minister Chantal Jouanno said the first series of requests would be for proposals to provide 3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity as France seeks to develop and gain experience in offshore wind technology.
"It will be this week or next, it is imminent," Jouanno said, adding France will launch a second tender for another series of offshore wind farms of the same size at a later stage to help toward a target of 6GW production by 2020.
"The investment for the first 3 GW of capacity could amount to 10 billion euros ($14 billion)," a spokesman at the ecology ministry said.
"About 10 locations have been identified in the English Channel, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterannean sea. The first offshore wind farms should start operations in 2015," he said.
Offshore wind farms present many technical challenges. Engineers need to ensure a smooth transmission of production to onshore electricity grids while operators need to be able to cope with maintenance issues.
Turbines makers like Danish group Vestas, German peer Repower, and French company Alstom could figure among the bidders. French utilities such as EDF, GDF Suez or EDF Energies Nouvelles could submit proposals to operate the wind farms.
Earlier this year, Britain awarded a series of offshore wind projects that will deliver up to 32 GW of capacity or enough to meet a quarter of Britain's electricity need by 2020.
Other programs are being developed in Belgian, Danish, Dutch, German, Irish, and Swedish waters.