Equinor, RES and Green Giraffe join forces and form Océole, a partnership dedicated to developing floating offshore wind in France.

Océole will evaluate and work towards submitting bids in the upcoming floating offshore wind tenders held by the French government.

Establishing this partnership is in line with the three companies’ ambition of delivering high-performance floating offshore wind projects to support France’s targets of up to 6.8 GW offshore wind by 2028 on its path to become carbon neutral by 2050.

“France has set an ambition of becoming among the top markets for floating offshore wind in the next decade. Together with RES and Green Giraffe, we are ready to contribute long term to the country’ ambitious offshore wind plans and develop what could potentially be the first commercial floating offshore wind farm in France. As Océole, we have the industrial competence, technical and financial skills to develop projects where we can create value and capture the benefits of scale for this exciting technology” says Equinor’s senior vice president for business development in Renewables, Jens Økland.

Delphine Robineau, Offshore Wind Manager at RES says: “I am delighted for RES to enter a partnership that enhances the complementary nature of all three companies. The experience gathered within Océole demonstrates our ability to develop the floating wind industry in France with projects that are adapted to French territories, while being respectful of the environment and the sea users”.

Equinor is the world’s leading floating offshore wind developer, operating the world’s first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland (30MW) and constructing the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm under development, Hywind Tampen (88 MW).

The company has more than a decade of operating experience from floating offshore wind. Their offshore experience and project management expertise from the North Sea and around the world makes them uniquely qualified to lead the way and further develop floating offshore wind in France in a safe and efficient way together with its partners.

RES has a strong and recognized expertise in offshore wind energy through its experience in project development, operation, and maintenance as well as support and engineering services. In France, RES won the tender for the offshore wind project off the Bay of Saint-Brieuc in 2011. The company will build on the experience from developing France’s first offshore wind project, which is fully consented and is currently under construction.

Green Giraffe is a specialist financial advisory firm focused on the renewable energy sector. With more than 110 projects worldwide they have a proven track record and a strong international position in the offshore wind sector.